Veijer strikes gold to beat Sasaki and Masia in Malaysia

Moto3™ action at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia served as the perfect appetiser on Sunday's billing at the Sepang International Circuit and it was Dutch Rookie Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) who stole the headlines with a hard-fought debut victory. Veijer came out on top after going head-to-head with his teammate Ayumu Sasaki and the latter's title rival Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) as the gap between the top two in the title race drops to 13 points with two races to go. 

Masia started from pole position but a mad rush into Turn 1 saw the Championship leader drop down to P2 as Veijer came charging through into Turn 1. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) was looking lively as Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Sasaki put themselves into contention. 

Masia followed for a lap but then made his move on Veijer whilst Sasaki and Öncü were on a charge. Sasaki carved his way through the pack like a knife through butter and took the lead from Masia to make his presence known and initiate battle.  

The pair proceeded to swap paintwork as the laps ticked away and a freight train of riders queued up behind the leading duo. 

A crash for David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) saw Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) also crash as two title contenders went down together, with Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), Riccardo Rossi (Sic58 Squadra Corse) and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets - MSI) also caught up in the incident. This left a six-bike battle for victory as Sasaki, Masia, Veijer, Öncü, Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team), and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) were all scrapping it out for Malaysian Grand Prix glory. 

It was getting all getting very hot at the front until it boiling point ahead of the penultimate lap. The group was reduced to just three after a final corner collision between Ajo teammates Öncü and Rueda saw both riders go down, with Bertelle also getting caught up in the incident - that dropped the Italian to P9. 

This left Masia, Sasaki, and Veijer to scrap it out for victory with two laps remaining. Veijer led the way at the start of the final lap as he fended off attacks from his teammate Sasaki, with the Dutch rider leading the way into the final sector. After a strong defensive performance from the rookie, he fended off Sasaki and Masia - who gave everything they had into the final corner - for a famous first lightweight class win. 

Six and a half seconds back from the battle for victory was Ivan Ortola who fended off David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), and Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) for 4th place. Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) was the final rider in that battle as the Aussie took 8th.

Just over three seconds further back was the Italian Filippo Farioli (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who finished in 9th. The Rookie got the better of Ryusei Yamanaka (GASGAS Aspar Team) and Matteo Bertelle who finished in 10th and 11th respectively.

After hitting the deck with his teammate Deniz Öncü rejoined the race to finish in 12th. The Turk crossed the line half a second up the road from Vicente Perez (BOE Motorsports) who bagged P13 ahead of the VisionTrack Racing Team duo of Scott Ogden and Joshua Whatley.

It's crunch time in the 2023 Moto3™ title battle after an incredible weekend of racing in Malaysia has set the stage perfectly for the final two rounds of the season. Back-to-back Grand Prix will decide who lifts the title with the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar up next ahead of the grand finale in Valencia just one week later. With a title on the line, you're not going to want to miss any of the action on motogp.com!

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