MotoGP: Malaysian Grand Prix Preview: It’s a jungle out there…

The Malaysian Grand Prix is one of the most atmospheric Grand Prix of the year, with 100,000 adoring fans cramming into the Sepang International Circuit. Set in the lucious, tropical greenery of Selangor, the Sepang circuit is set to be a hotly contested battle right from the word go.

With Marc Marquez already wrapping up the MotoGP title at Japan, it really is all for pride and glory yet again. Andrea Dovizioso can wrap up 2nd place in the championship this weekend and he has won at Sepang for the previous two years, whilst Valentino Rossi is his challenger and has won in Malaysia on numerous occasions. And don’t forget the small matter of Hafizh Syahrin either, could he spring a welcome surprise at home?

Marc Marquez is uncatchable and with the title already in the bag, he will be going for broke and looking to take his first Malaysian GP victory since 2014 – also the last time he was on the podium. After being forced to retire from the Australian GP after THAT collision with Johann Zarco, the Spaniard faces the daunting prospect of having back-to-back DNFs for the first time since Mugello and Catalunya in 2015. Honda haven’t won at Sepang since Dani Pedrosa in 2015 – will Marc place them back at the top this weekend?

Andrea Dovizioso achieved his first ever MotoGP podium at Sepang back in 2008, and since then, he’s made three more appearances on the rostrum – including two in the last two seasons as victories. The Italian has to be a firm favourite this weekend, having had such good form at Sepang since 2016. The Ducati as a machine was strong last year at the circuit too, so surely a win is likely for the all-Italian combination. With six podiums from the last seven races, Dovi’s form is good, even if it is only enough to consolidate 2nd in the title and not enough to challenge for the championship like last year. 

Valentino Rossi has won a total of six races at Sepang and finished on the podium on 12 other occasions. He hasn’t been a winner at Sepang since 2010 though and in 2018, is still yet to win a race on a struggling, uncompetitive Yamaha. The Doctor surely has his last chance to win a race in 2018 at this track, seeing as his last Valencia’s Grand Prix win came in 2004. The 39-year-old Italian hasn’t been on the podium at all in the second half of 2018, with his last podium coming in Germany at the Sachsenring. Since rejoining the Yamaha team in 2013, Rossi has been off the podium just twice at Sepang – 2013 and 2017 – so maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel for him. Rossi hasn’t had back-to-back 6th places since Laguna Seca and Brno in 2011 and with a 15 point gap to Dovizioso, he could do with getting closer to 2nd in the title.

Maverick Vinales ended Yamahas winning drought last time out in Australia and now he heads to a wet, soggy and tropical Malaysia to try and make it back-to-back wins for the manufacturer – what would be their first since 2017 at Losail and Argentina by Vinales himself. Vinales’ form at Sepang is far from amazing however, with a top ten each year but just a best of 6th in 2016. 9th last season on the Yamaha in the wet is hardly the ideal position, especially considering conditions look the same for 2018. The last Yamaha win in Malaysia was in 2010 by Valentino Rossi – will that statistic be updated by Sunday evening?

Cal Crutchlow is 5th in the title race but is out of action, so attention turns to 6th placed rider, Danilo Petrucci. The Italian is 11 points behind Crutchlow and is in the race with the absent Brit for top Independent rider. However, Petrucci looks completely out of sorts of late, without a top five since Austria and languishing right the way down in 12th place at Phillip Island for his joint worst result of the 2018 campaign. ‘Petrux’ has been inside the top ten in Malaysia for the last three seasons and will look to continue that run this year. Petrucci needs 12 points or more to overhaul Cal Crutchlow in the final two races – he scored 13 last year. Maybe all is not lost for the Brit just yet!

Suffering a 5th DNF of the season, Dani Pedrosa is languishing in 12th overall, as he completes Repsol Honda’s line up. Pedrosa is a bit of a Sepang specialist, with five wins across all classes – the most recent coming in 2015 in the controversial 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix. It is almost impossible for Pedrosa to sign off his career with a top ten in the championship overall but he is one point behind Alvaro Bautista in 11th. 

Despite his three wins in the championship, Jorge Lorenzo’s injury has seen him drop from top three certainty to top six hopeful, with just seven points between Petrucci in 6th and the Spaniard in 9th. The Ducati-led the Malaysian GP last year and got his then-best result onboard the bike with 2nd. Can he return with a bang?

The Suzuki pairing of Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone have had a fantastic last few Grand Prix, with at least one of them able to make it to the podium in the last two races. With the exception of Germany when both riders got taken out, they’ve had one bike inside the top ten on race day all season. However, the last time neither of them scored points was at Sepang last year. Iannone’s form at Sepang is frighteningly terrible, having never scored a premier class point at the circuit. Alex Rins has a podium in both Moto3 and Moto2 at Sepang and will look to bag himself another podium in the MotoGP class. 

KTM came on song at Malaysia last year, with a Q2 qualifying for Pol Espargaro and an 10th place finish in the race for the Spaniard. However, it is Bradley Smith that has somewhat smugly asserted himself as the number one in the team, with a second top-ten of the season at Phillip Island. Pol Espargaro’s disastrous season continues with yet another DNF last time out. He will hope to return to the top ten for the first time this season at Sepang, where he was 10th last season and has finished in the top ten every single year since 2008.

The Aprilia Racing Team have a springboard to work from coming into Sepang, with both Aleix Espargaró and Scott Redding achieving a good haul of points at Phillip Island. Should there be another double point-score at Sepang this weekend, then it’d be the first time since Motegi and Phillip Island in 2016 that the manufacturer has achieved back-to-back double points. Espargaró has a best result of 7th at Sepang in 2015, whilst Scott Redding has a best of 10th place back in 2014, as well as scoring points every year since 2011. 

With the factory teams done, attention now has to turn to the rest of the Independent teams. Tech 3 come to their ‘other’ home Grand Prix, with Johann Zarco in 7th overall and Hafizh Syahrin returning home as 2nd-best rookie. Zarco was a mighty 3rd last season at Sepang, whilst wrapping up his Moto2 title there in 2016. Syahrin was on the podium as a wildcard back in 2012 and his premier class appearance will out a few extra bums on seats whatever the weather – for once, rain may bring even more people in! Syahrin crashed at Phillip Island but was running in a good position, so expect the unexpected at Sepang…

Jack Miller completes the Pramac line-up and comes into Malaysia having led the Australian Grand Prix at home. Miller is languishing in 13th in the title and is yet to achieve the much talked about podium. 8th place at Sepang in the last two years suggests that Miller may well be on for another decent result this time around too, with confidence sky-high after his home GP showing. 

What can we say, the heroic Alvaro Bautista put in one of the best wingman performances of the last few years as a substitute rider at Phillip Island. The Spaniard’s 4th place makes him one of the more popular riders coming into Malaysia. Bautista has had two top-five finishes on the bounce, and the last time he had three on the trot was in 2013. With points in Malaysia in the last three years and a best result at the circuit of 5th coming in 2010 and 2013, he could well be a front runner once more at Sepang as he returns to his regular Angel Nieto Ducati. Karel Abraham had his fourth point-scoring ride of the season in Australia and heads to Malaysia having achieved a top ten at Sepang before, also for Ducati but back in 2012. 

The Marc VDS Honda team will be looking to make it back-to-back top tens after Franco Morbidelli clinched a vital 8th place to make himself the firm favourite for Rookie of the Year. Morbidelli clinched the Moto2 title at Sepang last year so has good memories. Teammate Tom Luthi is now under big pressure to score points, as he is the only full time rider who hasn’t done so yet. He has three podiums at Sepang including a win back in 2011, whilst also securing a win in his 125cc championship year of 2005. 

Finally, on to Avintia and with Tito Rabat still absent, team leader honours fall to Xavier a Siméon – who, at last, scored some premier class points, becoming the first Belgian rider in the premier class to do so since Sebastien le Grelle in 2000 at Catalunya. Simeon has a best result of 10th at Sepang, in Moto2 in 2015. Jordi Torres continues his quest for points and comes to the circuit off the back of his joint best premier class position of 17th. Torres has a best of 9th at Sepang back in 2013, whilst also finishing 3rd in World Superbikes at the track in 2015 on an Aprilia