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Team Suzuki Ecstar riders Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaró scored sixth and 13th places under difficult weather and track conditions during the Shell Malaysian MotoGP™ at Sepang today.

Following a 20-minute delay on the start because of a heavy tropical storm, making racing too dangerous, Viñales – who was fastest in the morning’s ‘dry’ warm-up – and Espargaró both had good jumps on the start, moving up into the leading places. Espargaró was in the fight for fourth position until running wide and dropping down to 13th, so spent the race trying to catch-up, while Viñales lost some places at third-race distance before gaining some after a couple of riders slipped-off.

Maverick Viñales: I didn’t want to high-side!
“Although sixth place is not so bad, I’m disappointed with the race result. We had a very positive weekend and I performed very fast in the dry, I really had hopes for a podium and also for a victory, but unfortunately in wet conditions we are not competitive yet. We struggle to find a good configuration with the electronics, which makes my riding very hard, in particular when it comes to acceleration. I can’t feel confident with the traction control, therefore resulting in me riding very carefully as I didn’t want to incur a high-side that could prevent me finishing the race. We have made many improvements on the machine and now we have reached a positive competitiveness in dry conditions, but the progress we’ve made in the wet is not enough. This result also proved the positives of the last three races; they were at three completely different circuits and we’ve proved we can adapt and be strongly-competitive in any kind of layout. Now the objective is to have the same competitiveness no matter what the weather conditions.”

Aleix Espargaró: I felt competitive in the dry
“I’m disappointed with the final result because the weekend overall had been positive, but then in the race I couldn’t feel competitive. I decided to go with a soft rear tyre, hoping the conditions of the track would stay wetter, but at the end this proved to be the wrong choice. From the very beginning I realised that my performance was not good and I lost the feeling with the grip right after four-or-five laps. I also made a couple of mistakes, and doing them at the very beginning of the race, when all the riders were still packed together, meant I lost many positions and then it was really hard to recover. It’s a pity, we’ve made a lot of progress in the last few races and I felt very competitive in dry conditions, but we still need to improve our capability to have the same performance also in the wet.”

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro concluded the Malaysian Grand Prix in 9th position after powering through the treacherous conditions today at the Sepang International circuit. The beginning of the race was delayed due to a sudden downpour at the scheduled start time. However, once the GP commenced, Espargaro bolted forward from 11th on the grid and he completed the opening lap in 9th. During the next few laps, the 25-year-old slipped back to 13th, yet the Spaniard remained resolute and after running a strong and consistent rhythm, he moved into 10th on the 13th lap. Espargaro maintained his solid pace as he continued to run at speed at the physically demanding circuit and he closely monitored his times in order to keep a comfortable gap to the pursuing riders. After pushing relentlessly, the 2013 Moto2 World Champion shot across the finish line in 9th place, which marks a positive close to the penultimate round of the championship. Now, Espargaro confidently eyes up the next GP in Valencia where he will seek to seize the top independent honours in what will be his final appearance on the Yamaha YZR-M1.

On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team pit box, Bradley Smith bravely battled through to 14th to conclude the triple back to back GP’s with another determined performance. Smith began the 20-lap sprint from the head of the fifth row of the grid and he expertly navigated his way around the opening lap, whilst impressively climbing four positions, before concluding it in 11th. From here, the British star stuck into a solid rhythm, yet despite giving his all, he was shuffled back to 16th after one-third of the race distance. However, the determined 25-year-old remained focused and pushed through the challenging conditions all the way to the chequered flag, which he met in 14th. This result marks a third successive point scoring finish since his comeback at the Japanese GP, from his knee injury, with Smith’s displays highly exceeding expectations in the flyaway races despite not riding at full fitness. Now, the British star aims to conclude his six-year partnership with Tech3 on a high note in his final appearance at the next round in Valencia.

Pol Espargaro: It’s been complicated

“It was a very hard race today and especially at the beginning where there was a lot of water on the track but I am glad to walk away with a top ten finish and some valuable championship points. Because of the rainwater on the asphalt, the visibility was limited and the more behind you were, the more time you lost in the first few laps as there weren’t any reference points regarding where to brake or accelerate, so it’s been really complicated. In addition, I didn’t want to risk making any mistakes, therefore we have to be content with this 9th position. However, this result has ensured my 8th place in the Championship standings, plus I am classified ahead of a couple of the factory MotoGP riders so it is pleasing to have ended the oversea races in this way. Now, we’ll head back to Europe for the final round of the 2016 season, which will also be my last event with Tech3 so I’m highly motivated to do the best job that I can.”

Bradley Smith: We have to look at the positives

“I have to start by saying that the three back to back races have been fantastic and I am more than satisfied with the results. To come back from my injury and score three point scoring finishes is much better than what I was expecting. If we look at the bigger picture, the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team did a superb job as well as the Clinica Mobile medical staff who made sure that I could compete in every session. In terms of the race, it certainly was tough due to the conditions but we have to be content with another finish in the points, even if we were hoping for more. I decided to risk using the hard rear tyre but it is not a compound that I have liked in the past, even though my feeling with it in FP4 was OK on the whole. Unfortunately, with the amount of water that was on the track today, I wasn’t able to generate the right temperature into the rear tyre so it was tricky but I did my best and I don’t think that I could have given any more. It’s a pity to end up in 14th because we’ve had really good pace throughout the weekend, yet we have to look at the positives and take them onboard. Now, we will have a weekend off and then I will head to Valencia, ready for my final appearance with the Tech3 team, where I will do my absolute best.”

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Heavy rain saw the start of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix delayed and the race distance reduced to 19 laps, but the more than 95,000 attendees still got plenty of thrilling racing action. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo fought hard during the race to take second and third, their fifth double podium of the season.

Rossi had dropped two places from his position on the starting grid as the 21 MotoGP riders stormed out of the gates. As a result he went into the first corner in fourth, but quickly worked his way to the front over the next couple of turns. Rossi swiftly gained the lead and tried to break away but he was soon joined by Andrea Iannone. The following 11 laps were a consistent tug of war for the lead in the race between the two Italians.

The Doctor used the nimble character of the Yamaha to the fullest in the twisty sections of the Sepang circuit. With 12 laps remaining Iannone made his first attempt to take off at the front, but Rossi didn’t let him escape and upped his pace further to close the gap within two laps, with Andrea Dovizioso in tow.

Studying his rival’s riding, Rossi timed his attack to perfection. He wrestled his way past Iannone, followed by Dovizioso, and set a provisional fastest lap while the rivals behind him lost time battling each other. With five laps to go, as the track started to dry, Rossi suffered a problem on the right side of his front tyre. As a result he went wide in turn one, allowing Dovizioso through and after having experienced two moments the Doctor decided to bring his YZR-M1 over the line in second place, 3.115s behind the leader.

Teammate Lorenzo took the holeshot from pole on the wet track, but wasn’t able to hold off an aggressive move from Marc Marquez and Iannone a few corners later, that saw him being relegated to sixth at the end of the first lap. The Mallorcan moved up one place at the start of lap three when Aleix Espargaró went wide and then took up the pursuit of Marquez who was a little more than a second ahead of him.

Lorenzo set a provisional fastest lap, but lost time and a place due to a scrap with Cal Crutchlow. Lorenzo decided to follow the Briton to the leading group and then found an impressive race pace but was unable to match the front runners. He had a lonely ride to the podium as Crutchlow, Marquez and Iannone all crashed in the later stages of the race, allowing him to grab a solid third place, finishing 11.924s from the front.

Rossi’s second place earns him 20 points and leaves him second in the championship standings with 236 points. Lorenzo’s performance sees him take 16 points and places him third in the rankings on 208 points, trailing by 28 points, making Rossi the 2016 MotoGP Vice Champion.

The MotoGP paddock heads back to Spain now for the last round of the season in Valencia in two weeks’ time.

Valentino Rossi: In the end it has been a good season

“My main target for today was to arrive in front of Jorge for second place in the championship, but I also wanted to win because I felt very good with the bike in the beginning. I had to fight a lot with Iannone and he was fast. After, when I went in front, I was very optimistic but when the water on the track became less the temperature went up, I was a bit in trouble with the tyres, especially with the front. I had two moments, I risked too much and I made a mistake and in that moment Dovizioso was too fast and he went. Securing second place in the championship is important, the battle with Lorenzo is always very intense and we always arrive at the last race. When you beat a rider that’s very strong, like Jorge, it’s great and in the end it has been a good season. I wanted to win, but it wasn’t possible.”

Jorge Lorenzo: I had a bit more confidence

“Being honest, today I’ve been lucky, because without the crashes I would have finished fifth or sixth. Crutchlow, Iannone and Marquez crashed and finally I got this podium and that’s OK. In the past I have been competitive in wet races, when I felt great. Especially with pit stops I have won races, I have secured podiums and got pole positions in the rain. In the wet, with the Michelin tyres this year, especially at the beginning, I had trouble getting confidence in the front tyre. It has been hard for me but after Brno we made some modifications to the setting and also this tarmac helps. At this track I had more grip than normal, so I had a bit more confidence and I was able to be more competitive. Maybe in the race a bit less than in qualifying, but finally because of some luck it was enough to get to the podium. We now go to Valencia with the aim to confirm the third place in the championship.”

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

Sunday at Sepang held the umpteenth change with the unpredictable weather that characterized the entire weekend. The MotoGP race, delayed 20 minutes due to the heavy rainfall on the Malaysian track, forced the riders and teams to employ an added dose of concentration.

Alvaro Bautista skilfully administered his Aprilia RS-GP in the initial phases of the race, when a lack of grip kept him from expressing himself the way he had during practice where he earned a spot on the third row of the starting grid. Fourteenth after the first lap, the Spanish rider’s progression had him overtaking Smith, Pol and Aleix Espargaró and Miller in the following laps, moving into ninth place. The crashes by Marquez and Iannone then decided his seventh final position, a great result that matches the one achieved in Japan two weeks ago to confirm the progress that the RS-GP has made in the second half of the season.

The race was compromised by a crash for Stefan Bradl, who took a slide during the tenth lap and then rejoined. Despite a good job making up ground on the riders ahead of him, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider had to settle for seventeenth place.

Alvao Bautista: The track was anything but easy!

“Seventh place is a good result that came at the end of a weekend that was definitely positive. We demonstrated good performance throughout practice, even achieving the best starting position yet with Aprilia. In the race, however, we found conditions that were very different from the rest of the sessions. There was much more water, so the feeling with the bike was not the same. I controlled the situation in the first laps, taking care not to make any mistakes and trying to achieve as much as possible. We saw a lot of crashes. The track was anything but easy so, considering the fact that the sensations in the saddle were not the best, we can be satisfied with the result and head to Valencia to finish this season well”.

Stefan Bradl: We weren’t able to prepare for the race

“Not an easy weekend for us. Because of the variable weather and having a few new components to test, we were not able to prepare for the race in the best possible way. On top of that, I had the crash, after which I was able to rejoin, but I lost time and positions. I am disappointed. All we can do now is go back home and set our sights on a good result in the last race at Valencia”.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko