Dovizioso breaks through in wet Malaysian GP

Andrea Dovizioso has become the ninth different winner of the MotoGP season in a race of attrition at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Valentino Rossi faded as he finished second for the second straight race, while Jorge Lorenzo inherited third after crashes for Andrea Iannone, Marc Marquez, and Cal Crutchlow.

With the start delayed by 20 minutes due to heavy rain, four different riders led during a nervous opening lap as Rossi emerged in front of the spray.

Andrea Iannone took the lead on Lap 2, which he held until Lap 9 when Rossi’s third attempted pass finally stuck.

Dovizioso ran third during the opening half of the 19-lap race, while Cal Crutchlow displayed good pace in climbing to fourth.

Marquez reclaimed the position from Crutchlow on Lap 9 before both crashed in separate incidents three laps later.

That left the three Italians all alone to battle for the podium until Iannone too went down a lap later, leaving his Ducati teammate to fight Rossi.

Rossi gifted the lead to Dovizoso when the Movistar Yamaha rider ran wide at Turn 1 with five laps remaining, and that proved pivotal as the 37-year-old battled to the end with a worn front tyre.

Dovizioso was left to take just his second MotoGP race win, over seven years after his first, extending the record for different race winners in a season.

“Wow, it was 2009 – a long time,” reflected the 30-year-old of the gap between victories.

“It’s really nice to win in this moment, in these conditions. I struggled a lot during race with some problem but I really wanted it.”

A cautious Rossi was nevertheless happy to put second place in the championship beyond doubt.

“I had a great battle with Iannone and when I was able to overtake I was very optimistic,” he said.

“When the water came less (track drying), I started to have a problem with the front tyre, I had two moments, and I had to slow down.

“It’s a shame because for sure we wanted to try to win but it’s good for the second place in the championship.”

Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) ended up a lonely third while Hector Barbera won an Avintia Ducati battle to beat Loris Baz to fourth.

Maverick Viñales (Suzuki), Alvaro Bautista (Gresini Aprilia), Jack Miller (Marc VDS Honda), Pol Espargaro (Tech 3 Yamaha), and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) completed the top ten.

Marquez picked his Repsol Honda back up to claim 11th.

In Moto2, Johann Zarco secured a second straight title with his sixth win of the season while Remy Gardner finished 13th, his third points finish in 2016.

MotoGP now returns to Europe for the final round of the season in Valencia, from November 11-13.

Results: Malaysian MotoGP

Pos	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	42’27.333
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+3.115
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+11.924
4	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+19.916
5	Loris BAZ	FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	+21.353
6	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+22.932
7	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+25.829
8	Jack MILLER	AUS	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	+32.746
9	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+33.704
10	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+34.280
11	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+36.480
12	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	+36.638
13	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	+36.897
14	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	+45.609
15	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	+49.779
16	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+52.665
17	Stefan BRADL	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	+52.784
18	Tito RABAT	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	+54.891
DNF	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	7 Laps
DNF	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	8 Laps
DNF	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	8 Laps

Championship

Pos	Rider	Country	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	278
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	236
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	208
4	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	191
5	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	162
6	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	155
7	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	141
8	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	124
9	Hector BARBERA	SPA	97
10	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	96
11	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	85
12	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	77
13	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	76
14	Scott REDDING	GBR	72
15	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	71
16	Stefan BRADL	GER	60
17	Jack MILLER	AUS	56
18	Bradley SMITH	GBR	55
19	Michele PIRRO	ITA	36
20	Loris BAZ	FRA	35
21	Tito RABAT	SPA	29
22	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	20
23	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	5
24	Alex LOWES	GBR	3
25	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	1
26	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	1
27	Mike JONES	AUS	1