Source: Supplied.

It was a must win in many ways for Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso as the paddock arrived at the penultimate round of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship in Sepang, and the Italian kept calm under intense pressure to secure his sixth win of the season – and take the championship fight down to the wire.

Slicing through the rain to catch and pass teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Dovizioso was seven tenths clear of the Majorcan at the flag in a 1-2 for Ducati – and key rival Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) crossed the line in fourth. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completed the podium after a stunning start, wrapping up the title of top Independent Team rider.

It was Marquez who took an incredible initial holeshot from the third row, but the reigning Champion headed wide along with Lorenzo – allowing Zarco to slice through into the lead. Once there, the Frenchman lit it up to escape into the distance, and Lorenzo moved through to chase the Tech 3 rider down. Marquez slotted into third, with Dovizioso initially the man to lose out – but the Italian soon began to move through.

Zarco’s lead began to diminish, Dovizioso passed Marquez, and then both Ducatis were able to pass the Frenchman. It seemed Marquez would have the pace to take third from Zarco, but the reigning Champion couldn’t make up the ground. At the front, Lorenzo was holding firm as the two red machines streaked away – but the number 99 then suffered a moment at turn 15 with a foot off the footpeg.

‘DesmoDovi’ saw his chance to strike, then facing down some nervous laps as the end of the race neared. Lorenzo managed to bring it back to seven tenths over the line, with Zarco back on the rostrum in third.

Marquez was eight seconds further back in fourth, with polesitter and teammate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) completing the top five after a more promising showing in the wet for the former winner at the venue in similar conditions.

Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) put in a superstar performance in the wet as he was forced to start from the back after a technical problem with his number one bike, and moved up to take sixth over the line – a gain of over 15 places.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was close to his compatriot by the end of the race to take seventh and only four tenths back, ahead of a more lonely finish for EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider and Australian Jack Miller into P8. Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had a tough race for ninth, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory) giving KTM another consecutive top 10 finish after another impressive race.

Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) took P11, with the points scorers completed by Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing), Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda.)

It’s now truly everything or nothing for the two title challengers, and the Championship comes back to Europe for the final showdown at Valencia. Marquez leads by 21 points, so it’s a long shot for ‘DesmoDovi’, but never, ever say never.

Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was crowned the 2017 Moto2 World Champion, as Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took back-to-back wins for the first time in Moto2 with a stunning demolition job, over five seconds clear at one point and putting in a faultless ride to the flag despite the late threat of rain.

Rookie teammate Brad Binder made it another 1-2 for the Austrian factory as he took his second Moto2 podium in second, able to get past newly-crowned world champion Morbidelli in the latter stages. The number 21 – who has led the standings all year – completed the rostrum.

Earlier in the day it was announced that key title rival Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten) had been declared unfit to race, so Morbidelli’s 29-point advantage going into the Malaysian GP was enough to secure the crown. But celebrations waited until after the flag, when the customary number one was stuck to the front of Morbidelli’s EG 0,0 Marc VDS machine on the way back to parc ferme.

Behind the fastest three in front, Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) made a late charge to take advantage of the late rain flags and make it into fourth, three tenths ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) after the Rookie of the Year initially mounted a podium challenge then completed the top five. Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) lodged an unfortunate DNF.

Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) backed up his win and Moto3 title from Phillip Island with another impressive performance, taking the win after catching and passing early leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3). Martin took second – just – after dueling with Enea Bastianini (Estrella Galicia 0,0) to the line.

Livio Loi (Leopard Racing) put in another impressive ride after bouncing back from a broken collarbone earlier in the season, and the Belgian had a lonely ride to fourth. He was ahead of an incredible group battle for fifth as John McPhee (British Talent Team) made his move on the final lap to take the reins in that fight, crossing the line in P5 by just 0.039s over Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46).

The final round of the MotoGP World Championship is scheduled for 12 November at Valencia in Spain.