He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother:
vinales puts australian setback behind with joyful win
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez lifting his brother Alex, who won the Moto2 title at the Sepang International Circuit yesterday.
A FIGHTER never surrenders. Spaniard Maverick Vinales (pic) bounced back in style from a last-lap crash while leading the Australian Grand Prix last week to take an important victory ahead of a charging Marc Marquez at the Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.
Vinales took the lead from the first lap and never looked back as he darted clear of all his rivals with a stunning race pace.
Vinales finished the 20-lap race with 40:14.632 to claim his second win of the season for Yamaha after the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen in June.
Newly crowned MotoGP world champion Marquez, who started down in 11th place following his high speed qualifying crash on Saturday, charged through the pack by making it into the top three before the end of the first lap. But a couple of laps behind Ducati rider Jack Miller proved costly for the Honda rider.
Vinales seized the advantage to build up a one-second cushion at the front by the time Marquez moved into second place after the third lap with a smart move past Miller.
However, Marquez could not find the pace to match Vinales and the gap gradually expanded as the race progressed under hot steamy conditions.
Vinales’ dominant victory saw the Spanird moving up to third place in the MotoGP overall standings with the final round in Valencia to come in two weeks time.
Italian Andrea Dovizioso held off fellow countryman Valentino Rossi to complete the podium for Ducati.
Vinales felt redeemed as he crossed the finish line to loud celebrations from his team members.
“This time I kept a little bit in the pocket just in case Marc came back.
“Honestly, I am very happy because we managed the weekend very good.
“Finally, I started good in the first laps and I was there.
“For many races, I have been trying to fight for the victory and today I had the chance and I did it, so I have to say congratulations to all the team, to Yamaha and all the people who always support me. We trusted the bike a lot to get the victory and today we did it,” said Vinales, who also dedicated his victory to young Indonesian rider Afridza Munandar, who passed away after crashing in the Asia Talent Cup race at Sepang on Saturday.
“I want to dedicate this win to the young kid from yesterday. We live our passion and sometimes it can be very dangerous. It’s a big disappointment for us to hear this,” he added.
It was disappointment for Petronas Sepang Racing Team riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli as they finished out of the podium despite starting from the front row.
The duo topped every practice session ahead of their team’s home debut in the premier class but the satellite Yamaha pair failed to replicate the same pace in the race.
Italian rider Morbidelli held on to sixth place ahead of teammate and pole-sitter Quartararo, who was left visibly frustrated at the end of the race.