Augusto Fernandez is back in the box seat after an unbelievable final lap at Sepang
Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) has taken victory at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia as the Moto2™ title race was turned on its head yet again. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) looked to have one hand on the crown as he ran second on the road and Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) struggled to break into the top five, all the way to the start of the 18th and final lap around the Sepang International Circuit. However, Ogura then tried to press home his advantage with a move on Arbolino and disaster struck, the Japanese rider tucking the front and crashing out.
Arbolino went on to win by 11 seconds but the rider who was happiest with his result most likely would have been Fernandez, who inherited fourth position and a 13-point haul. The Spaniard crashed out last Sunday at Phillip Island but, with Ogura scoring a zero this time, he is now back on top of the riders’ standings by 9.5 points with just the Valencia GP to come in a fortnight from now.
Arbolino takes the lead amid early drama
Arbolino had qualified on the middle of the front row and cleared pole-sitter Ogura by the time they arrived at Turn 1. Ogura’s Idemitsu Honda Team Asia teammate Somkiat Chantra started eighth and was trying to slot into fourth at Turn 2 but made contact with the rear wheel of Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) and went down, with Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bike coming down on top of him. Fortunately, Chantra was at least able to ride back to the pits and retire, while David Sanchis (MV Agusta Forward Racing) went no further after he also hit the deck in the incident.
Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) would emerge in third, behind Arbolino and Ogura, while Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) did not take too long to pass Dixon for fourth position. Fernandez barely avoided the drama back at Turn 2 and found himself in sixth position, right where he had started, but was unable to make early progress.
Fernandez struggles while Ogura goes for P1
Indeed, that top six ran as you were until Gonzalez got into Lopez’s slipstream and passed the Australian GP winner at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 9. By then, the top two were more than four seconds up the road, Arbolino’s margin over Ogura…