MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 17 / OCTOBER 29, 2017
SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / SEPANG, MALAYSIA
P68
ki) was disqualified, after taking
the track short-cut to swap bikes
after his second tumble.
Marquez goes to the last race
with 282 points, Dovi 261. Vinales
is impregnable in third at 226; but
Rossi (197) and Pedrosa (185) are
disputing fourth. Zarco (154) was
already Rookie of the Year, and
today became the top indepen-
dent rider as well.
Smith was back to 13th ahead
of the fading Redding, who just
managed to save 14th from the
closing Barbera (Avintia Ducati)
and Crutchlow (LCR Honda).
First-timer Michael van der
Mark (Monster Yamaha) had
been consigned to 16th by this
pair, but still ahead of Iannone
(Suzuki) and last finisher Rabat
(Honda).
Lowes (Aprilia), Abraham and
Baz (both Ducati) crashed out,
the last-named from a challeng-
ing top-ten position; Rins (Suzu-
spell by Pol Espargaro.
By the time Valentino Rossi
(Movistar Yamaha) got to the
front of it on lap 13, Petrucci was
already through and away, barely
a second behind Pedrosa at the
flag.
Jack Miller (VDS Honda) came
through to eighth by the finish,
the rest spaced out by now and
Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yama-
ha) through to ninth. Then came
Espargaro, with erstwhile chal-
lenger Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear
Ducati) now dropping away.
Valentino Rossi struggled with the
rain and bike setup en route to a
seventh-place finish.
