Moto2 Sepang: Alonso wins, but the title race heats up as Guevara closes to within 3.5 points of Gonzalez

David Alonso took the victory, but the more significant story at Sepang was this: Izan Guevara took another two points off Manuel Gonzalez and is now just 3.5 points behind the Moto2 World Championship leader. The Pramac Yamaha rider finished fourth, immediately ahead of his Intact rival, with three races left to decide the title.

In Malaysia, the celebrations belonged entirely to the Aspar team, with the Colombian leading teammate Daniel Holgado across the line. For Alonso, it was his second win of the season, following his victory at Assen in June. Angel Piqueras claimed the final podium spot, securing his first Moto2 podium, according to Moto.it, in a season hampered by injuries.

The championship leader came into the race at a disadvantage. As we reported in our Moto2 Sepang: Holgado flies to pole, battered championship leader Gonzalez only ninth, and Guevara?, Gonzalez started from ninth on the grid, with pain in his right foot after crashing during Friday's free practice. Guevara, meanwhile, started from the front row, third behind Holgado and Piqueras.

With air temperatures at 36 degrees and the track at 53, Gonzalez nevertheless made a good start, moving up to seventh on the opening lap. On lap three he passed Daniel Muñoz, then got past Alonso Lopez on the fourth lap to take fifth. But ahead of him, Guevara—who had made contact with Alonso at Turn 2 on the opening lap without consequence—had already found the pace of the front-runners. The gap between the two rivals grew lap after lap: according to Speedweek, it had already reached four seconds halfway through the race.

Guevara never managed to close in enough to challenge Piqueras for the podium, and his run of three consecutive wins came to an end at Sepang. In the standings, however, the result was positive: his deficit shrank from 5.5 points to 3.5.

Holgado got away well from pole, which he had secured with a 2:02.875, more than half a second ahead of Piqueras. Alonso quickly got past Guevara and Piqueras, latched onto his teammate and took the lead around lap six, steadily pulling away until his advantage exceeded a second. With three laps to go, the Colombian nearly threw it all away with a mistake at Turn 16 that almost sent him crashing, allowing Holgado to close back in. In the Aspar garage, memories of the two teammates' collision in Indonesia came flooding back, but Alonso rebuilt his lead before the chequered flag.

Celestino Vietti, forced to start 21st after a three-place penalty and a crash in Q2, fought his way up to ninth. Tony Arbolino finished 16th, while Luca Lunetta crashed at Turn 9, his second fall of the weekend. Matteo Ferrari, standing in for Sergio Garcia at Gresini, finished 22nd. Jacob Roulstone, replacing Aron Canet, retired. Sasaki, Furusato, Öncü and Aji also crashed, all without serious consequences.

The Moto2 World Championship remains wide open: three races to go, a 3.5-point margin, and a leader who will need to regain full fitness to defend his position at the top.

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