The fight for the 2017 MotoGP championship remains alive after Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) took victory earlier today on a wet track at Sepang. Dovizioso passed teammate Jorge Lorenzo with a few laps remaining, resulting in a sweep of the top two spots by Ducati. Early race leader Johann Zarco (Yamaha) finished third.
Points leader Marc Marquez (Honda) settled for fourth position today rather than risk a crash. This means that Marquez will enter the final round at Valencia with a nearly insurmountable 21 point lead over Dovizioso. The Valencia round is two weeks away.
Follow this link to full race results. For additional details and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
See more of MD’s great photography:
HRC boss pep talk with Marc, ‘bring the bike home in Valencia and there’s an extra 5 million dollars for you.’
Much as I admire Dovi, he has to win and Marquez get 12th or worse. I don’t think we’ll see that much as I’d like to. 200-1 are the odds.
Or Marquez DNF which is always a possibility.
re: “Marquez DNF which is always a possibility”
the 1980 Olympics Gold Medal hockey game where USA beat the Soviet Union was dubbed “Miracle on Ice”.
if Repsol/HRC/Murquez fall on their swords in Catalonia after all their secession shenanigans, i will dub Ducati’s Championship…
(wait for it)
MIRACLE ON ASPHALT.
One word….. 2006
re: “2006…”
…Ross takes an unprecedented (and highly unusual) digger at Valencia gifting Nicky the championship.
i remember even if nobody else does.
I think you mean “re-gifting”…
no, that was a gift, and an unexpected one at that.
No, Pedrosa “gifted” Rossi the championship at Portugal. Then Rossi “regifted” it to Nicky…
Pedrosa merely gifted Rossi the lead in the Championship, NOT the championship. Obviously. It was Rossi’s championship to lose at Valencia, he was the reigning Champion, and he was leading in points. By crashing, he gifted the title to Hayden.
Each competitor has things that go well and things that do not go well during the 16 or 18 now, series. DNF’s are the worst. But a DNF from a crash or being crashed, is no worse than a DNF from a mechanical failure. DNF’s result in zero points while your competitor gains points.
At Valencia this year Marquez is the reigning Champions, and he is leading in points, and it’s his Championship to lose. If he DNF’s in a week and a half at Valencia, he will be gifting the championship to Dovi.
Gosh, Mr. Mickey, this is fascinating. Please teach me more…
Shake em’ Mickey!
It’s easy to forget the early season gift from Rossi/Yamaha in the form of 3 retirements, a 14th and a 13th as well. He was 51pts. back.
It was also an interesting season in that there were 7 different winners, including Troy Bayliss at Valencia.
Kawasaki even fielded bikes this year!
and Elias beating Rossi in Portugal by 2/1000 ths of a second which cost Rossi 5 points he could have used. 2/1000ths of a sec!
Had Rossi won that race he would have been the Champion, although tied in points, by having more wins than Hayden.
Dovi has been the stand out rider of the season in my view. He’s been consistently well prepared, dealt with a variety of weather conditions, surfaces, competitive strengths etc. He’s stayed healthy, rode smart and deserves to be in contention for the title going into the final race. He’s also comes across as a modest, genuine guy – whether that’s just is external persona or if he’s actually like that I have no idea of course but at least he’s easy to appreciate as a rider/competitor.
And there were guys saying that Ducati made a huge mistake by retaining him and letting Iannone go..
Dovi has been very solid, for a long time. It’s nice to see it pay off so handsomely.
To be fair, other than Iannone’s crazy track antics, it wasn’t as clear last year and they both won races. This year Dovi has truly come into his own.
.. and Suzuki has fallen back. In 2016 the bike seemed to be a Yamaha clone (in a good way). This year, they’re lost.
It is fascinating. I wonder what happened? They made some great progress last year. Is the bike itself that much different, or is the riding style required to get the most out of it incompatible with the current riders in the garage? I don’t know. They have looked a lot better with the new fairing, but there has to be more to it than that. Maybe the competition has just done a noticeably better job of working the electronics.
Looks like Sepang suit Ducati better than the others – even Marc said he struggled. If it wasn’t for the rain, I think MM would’ve been further behind. The rain saved him,and now he only has to DNF in Valencia to lose the championship to Dovi.
Dovi it’s the star of this year either he win the championship or not.
MV set a lot of expectation but haven’t been delivering.
Lorenzo…
MM can still lose to Dovi, in fact after Ducati developed the ECU for Dorna it would make sense for Marquez to have “an accident”.
I hope Dani do a Rossi and kicks Dovi handlebar so can MM win, go Spain or go home!!!
Well, you’re not conspiratorially-minded at all…
Quite a pathetic dissertation.
Lol. Unlike some others, I see the humor.
Do tell
re: “I hope Dani do a Rossi and kicks Dovi handlebar”
just got a text, Dan says once back in Spain he reserves to right to just be “Dan” and go “human torpedo” if need be to SCUTTLE any and all ‘talian vessels found in his cross-hairs. we wealthy Catalans will have our independence…!!!
okay, not sure why he threw that last part in there.
Can’t remember so many wet races in a season. Dovi rode a great race, I was wondering if Lorenzo was going to let him by, looks like he didn’t have to. It was an exciting race for me, surprised there were not more crashes, hat’s off to the Ducati’s, they did just what they had to do, same with Marquez, although I am sure MM would have liked to have been on the podium, with the championship! It is good the championship is coming down to the last race, quite fitting for the caliber of racing we have seen this year. Good luck to everyone……
Once again, a wet track determines the winners and losers. We’ve seen this movie far too frequently this year, somewhat watering down (errr…) what has otherwise been a good season of racing.
Comes with the territory. At least it’s not like stock car racing. More like street riding some times.
Conditions don’t pick the winners & losers, preparation does. Conditions were the same for everyone. Some teams were prepared for it, some less so.
“Conditions don’t pick the winners & losers, preparation does. Conditions were the same for everyone. Some teams were prepared for it, some less so.”
Great coach-speak. Perfect for a Hallmark card.
Unfortunately, back in the real world, not all bikes work equally well under all conditions. Never have, never will. The reality is that this year’s Movistar Yamahas simply don’t work well in the wet, resulting in this season being a contest between two teams rather than three.
Last year, rain was Vale’s saving grace. He was more competitive in the wet (if he chose the right time they change to rain tires..), as were the satellite teams. This year, Yamaha lost something when they handed off those bikes to Tech3. That’s Yamaha’s fault.
Just think, two years ago, a 3 team championship wasn’t possible at all.
Hike up those big girl panties and deal.
At least it wasn’t flag-to-flag. Can’t do much about the weather.