Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) emerged victorious at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia, with the Italian securing an incredible win after looking unstoppable on Sunday.
Vietti took glory by 1.486s, crossing the line in P1 ahead of Jorge Navarro (OnlyFans American Racing Team), who capped off an incredible weekend as he continued to impress while substituting for the injured Joe Roberts. Navarro took second ahead of Izan Guevara, who took a late podium for the CFMOTO RCB Aspar Team as he capitalised on an error from teammate Jake Dixon heading onto the final lap.
As the lights went out, Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) made an incredible start, launching into P1 on the run to Turn 1. However, Vietti then made a key move, snatching the lead at Turn 1, with OnlyFans American Racing Team’s Ramirez and Navarro in pursuit. Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) also began to work hard at the start, charging into P2 and demoting Ramirez to third.
Ramirez would not wait long to respond, beginning to duel with Ogura before making the move stick at the end of Lap 1. Meanwhile, Vietti put down the hammer, stretching his gap to over one second in a stunning display. It was an unbelievable pace from Vietti, a rhythm which pushed the Italian to the limit as he made a mistake at Turn 1.
Vietti’s lead was now diminished, with Ramirez glued to his rear tyre as Ogura and Navarro began to duel. Navarro made the move stick on Lap 7, demoting Ogura to third as he aimed to claim his first podium since 2022. The #9’s charge did not stop there as he slid past Ramirez on Lap 9. Then, he soon set his sights on leader Vietti.
The battle for the final spot on the podium continued, with Ogura responding on Lap 10 and snatching third position. However, the #79 was stopped in his tracks on Lap 11 as a bike issue caused the World Champion to end his race early.
Once Dixon entered P3, the #96 began to extend his margin to half a second over Ramirez. Meanwhile, Navarro lost ground to Vietti at the front, as the #13 regained composure and extended his lead to one second.
Further back, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) continued his recovery ride from P13 on the grid, carving his way to ninth. Canet soon found his way through on Manuel Gonzalez (Gresini Moto2™) as he took eighth and set his sights on Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in P7.
On the final lap, nobody could match Vietti’s relentless pace, allowing the Italian to clinch his third victory of the season after defeating Navarro. It was a stunning ride for the #9 to bag second place while Guevara took the final spot on the podium after Dixon briefly slowed down at the start of the final lap.
Dixon held onto fourth across the line, fending off Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) as the Italian rounded out the top five spots on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ramirez claimed sixth, unable to hold onto the top five in the closing laps. Öncü held onto P7 and in the end held onto a comfortable margin over Canet.
Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) rounded out the top 10 as Gonzalez dropped to P11. The Spaniard placed ahead of teammate Albert Arenas as Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp), Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) and Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Filip Salač secured the final points on race day.
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