2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix

rdf:langString 2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix

rdf:langString Malaysian

rdf:langString Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix

rdf:langString Many people believe that [Rossi's] actions were justified because of Marquez's onslaught, just as many believe Zinedine Zidane was justified in head-butting an opponent in the 2006 World Cup Final, or that David Beckham was justified in kicking another player in the 1998 World Cup. But you can't do that."

rdf:langString The 2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix (formally the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix) was the seventeenth (and penultimate round) of eighteen motorcycle races of the 2015 MotoGP season. It was held before a crowd of 88,832 people at the Sepang International Circuit in the Malaysian district of Sepang in Selangor on 25 October 2015. Dani Pedrosa of Honda won the 20-lap race from pole position. Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo finished second and his teammate Valentino Rossi came in third. In the junior classes, Johann Zarco won the Moto2 race on a Kalex bike and KTM's Miguel Oliveira won in Moto3. Pedrosa won the pole position by recording the fastest lap in qualifying and maintained his start line advantage going into the first corner. The race was, however, overshadowed by the three-lap duel for third place between Honda rider Marc Márquez and his rival Rossi as the two traded position several times per lap. The tension between the two was high when Márquez and Rossi duelled each other in Argentina and the Netherlands and Rossi accused Márquez of helping teammate Lorenzo in Australia which both riders denied. The duel ended with Márquez and Rossi colliding at turn fourteen on lap seven. Although Rossi continued, Márquez fell from his bike and retired in the pit lane after remounting his bike. Pedrosa meanwhile led every lap to take his second victory of the season, his 28th in MotoGP and the 51st of his career by almost four seconds over Lorenzo. Rossi was issued three penalty points and was required to start from the rear of the grid at the season-ending Valencian Community Grand Prix since he had another penalty point from earlier in the season and he withdrew a subsequent appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2015. In the junior classes, Thomas Lüthi started from pole position in Moto2 with a new class lap record. Lüthi and Zarco traded places on the first lap and then both riders were able to establish a small advantage at the front of the field. Zarco began closing up to Lüthi with seven laps left but Lüthi responded by seeing a pit board message that encouraged him to increase his pace. Zarco however conserved the life of his tyres in the closing stages of the race and passed Lüthi at turn two on the final lap to win for the eighth time in the season. Niccolò Antonelli began the Moto3 race from pole position but got involved in a multi-rider duel which had the lead swapped hands in almost every lap of the round. In the end, Miguel Oliveira ended up drafting his teammate Brad Binder on the back straight and overtook him at the final corner. Oliviera fended Binder off to win his fifth race of the season. Danny Kent had the possibility to win the Riders' Championship at Sepang if he came fifth regardless where Oliviera came but was unable to do so when he took seventh. The consequence of the race meant Lorenzo was now trailing Rossi by seven points in the Riders' Championship and Márquez retained third place despite his retirement. Pedrosa's victory allowed him to move into fourth after Andrea Iannone retired from a punctured radiator on the second lap of the race. In the Teams' Championship, Yamaha increased their unassailable lead to 200 points over Honda and Ducati retained third despite both their riders not reaching the end of the event. Tech 3 and Suzuki completed the top five. Yamaha still led the Constructors' Championship on 382 points; Honda and Ducati were second and third with one round left in the season.