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Results:

The intermediate class race started with Sepang at its hottest and ended with a bit of a novelty podium, starting with Celestino Vietti returning from injury straight onto the highest step of the podium. As if he never missed the last two rounds, the Italian was nearly untouchable over the 17 laps and claimed victory with a second and a half of advantage at the chequered flag. The closest challenger was Jorge Navarro, American Racing’s substitute rider leaving Sepang with pole position and a second place, in a fine return to the world championship. The final spot on the podium was occupied for the first time by Izan Guevara, the Spaniard making his maiden trip to the Moto2 rostrum, helped by a rookie mistake from his teammate. 

Navarro didn’t get the best launch off the line, allowing Vietti to take the lead into the first corner, while Ai Ogura – who had started on the third row of the grid – went around the outside at turn 1 to sneak into second position, ahead of front-row starters Marcos Ramirez and Navarro. Guevara quickly joined the top five from 11^th on the grid and was soon harassing the poleman for 4^th. Albert Arenas, Deniz Öncü, Jake Dixon, Manuel Gonzalez and Tony Arbolino made up the top 10 on the opening lap, with Aron Canet making no progress down in 12^th position. 

By the end of the first lap, Vietti had established an advantage of nearly a second and a half, which Ramirez was tasked with reducing, as he took over the pursuit from Ogura. The Spaniard found a couple of tenths here and there, but Vietti was the quickest man on track at that early stage and the gap hovered around one second over the next couple of laps. Ramirez was left to focus on that job, as Ogura gave him half a second of breathing room, while easily fending off Guevara and Navarro. Öncü provided the early entertainment, his first handful of laps peppered with moments and overtakes, but the Turkish rider had dropped a second behind the top 5 by lap 5, with a sizeable group behind him. Dixon, Arbolino, Arenas and Gonzalez were still in the top 10, with Diogo Moreira and Canet close behind. 

Back at the front, Ramirez managed to make good progress early on and fully caught up with Vietti by lap 6, helped by a mistake from the Italian going wide at the first corner, and a lead group of five was established, also including Ogura, Navarro and Guevara. A second and a half back, Dixon was attacking Öncü in the battle for 6^th and immediately attempted to bridge the gap to the leaders, but the gap coming down was partly down to Guevara dropping back. Only a couple of laps later, the leaders remained a quartet, as Guevara lost a second on them and was getting reeled in by Dixon, with Öncü fending off Arbolino for 7^th position another second back.

Vietti seemed to quickly regroup after the early mistake and remained unchallenged at the front, keeping Ramirez half a second back and the Spaniard soon came under friendly fire from temporary teammate Navarro. The poleman attacked his compatriot at turn 9 on lap 9, after pulling the same move on Ogura one lap earlier. Neither of them was able to retaliate and by the end of lap 10, Vietti and Navarro had stretched a second of advantage at the front. Ogura did manage to depose Ramirez of 3^rd by the end of that same lap and the two had company from the Aspar duo, with Dixon promptly having a go at Ramirez as well. Another second back, Arbolino had deposed Oncu of 7^th, with Gonzalez and Canet completing the top 10 a further two seconds behind. 

While Vietti and Navarro still bided their time for an exchange at the front, lap 11 saw the final podium position up for grabs once again, as Ogura stopped with a technical issue and surrendered 3^rd. Dixon, Ramirez and Guevara were the main contenders, but Arbolino was not too far back, closing in by seven tenths with 6 laps remaining. However, the Italian was struggling to reduce the gap and eventually ran out of time to have a say in the podium battle. 

Lap 13 soon looked like a decisive one, as Vietti picked up the pace and dropped Navarro eight tenths of a second behind. Although the Spaniard tried to respond initially, he had to admit defeat and cruised to the chequered flag about a second behind the Italian. Dixon also enjoyed clear air over the final handful of laps, not making much progress towards the leaders, but easily dropping the rest of the group. The battle for 4^th took place nearly two seconds behind the Brit, and Guevara claimed that position with three laps remaining, but the Spaniard soon found himself on the podium, as his teammate suddenly slowed down at the start of the final lap after miscounting the laps. The Brit quickly regrouped to keep 4^th, fending off Arbolino, while Ramirez faded to 6^th at the finish line. Öncü took a lonely 7^th, with Canet an equally lonely 8^th, while Somkiat Chantra and Moreira completed the top 10.  

With Ogura having already claimed the big trophy, Canet secured the runner-up position in the world championship despite an underwhelming result in Sepang, but the battle for 3^rd continues. Having finished a modest 14^th, Sergio Garcia still holds 3^rd in the championship, 6 points ahead of the convalescent Fermin Aldeguer and Gonzalez, 10 ahead of Lopez and 16 ahead of victor Vietti. 

Results: 

Despite some threatening clouds gathering around the track, the intermediate class enjoyed a dry track surface for their qualifying battles and it was an American Racing dream. Even with their title contender out of action due to injury, pole position still came their way courtesy of the substitute rider – Jorge Navarro doing a fantastic job to take his first pole position in five years with an all-time lap record. The Spaniard stole the spotlight from teammate Marcos Ramirez, who held provisional pole until the final couple of minutes of Q2, when he got demoted to second - still his best qualifying position in the class. Celestino Vietti was one of the few riders who avoided late yellow flags and was able to improve, making a late jump onto the front row.

After leading the way in practice and very early in Q2, Albert Arenas settled for 4^th in the closing stages, ahead of Deniz Öncü and Tony Arbolino. World champion Ai Ogura was a rather subdued 7^th, although only three tenths of a second slower than the poleman and will be sharing third row with Manuel Gonzalez and Diogo Moreira. Filip Salac completed the top 10 alongside the Aspar duo of Izan Guevara and Jake Dixon – the latter ending his session early with a minor tumble at turn 8. 

Aron Canet might have hoped for more than 13^th grid position but left it too late to improve and a remarkable save on his final flying lap left him vertical but not quick enough to recover positions. The Spaniard will share fifth row with Zonta van den Goorbergh and Q1 leader Somkiat Chantra, while Barry Baltus opens row six ahead of Jeremy Alcoba and Senna Agius. There were a couple of surprises in Q1, mainly Sergio Garcia missing out by six hundredths of a second and Alonso Lopez being affected by late yellow whilst on a fast final lap, which left them both on the seventh row. 

Results: 

Rain flags were here to stay for the entire duration of the final practice session in the intermediate class, but conditions were decent most of the way around the track and there was room for improvement throughout. If the day started with Manuel Gonzalez at the top of the pile, teammate Albert Arenas took over in the final seven minutes of practice, leading the way by a tenth of a second from Zonta van den Goorbergh. 

Tony Arbolino was up and down the timesheets but regrouped to claim 3^rd in the final stages, similarly to Marcos Ramirez in 4^th. Jake Dixon was one of the riders who briefly saw their name at the top of the hierarchy, before settling for 5^th, ahead of Aron Canet. Jorge Navarro continues to do a solid job as a replacement rider for Joe Roberts and finished 7^th after a very brief stint at the top. 

Ai Ogura was not in a rush to improve in the slightly questionable conditions and spent the early part of the session in his box but rejoined the action for the final ten minutes and headed straight to the business end. The world champion briefly lead the way before settling for 8^th, with teammates Celestino Vietti and Deniz Öncü completing the top 10. 

The remaining tickets to Q2 were secured by Jeremy Alcoba, Diogo Moreira, Manu Gonzalez and Izan Guevara, with Filip Salac narrowly missing out by three hundredths of a second. The Czech rider will be joined by the likes of Alonso Lopez, Sergio Garcia and Somkiat Chantra in Q1 – the trio struggling to maintain their place at the front. 

Results:

Results:

Results:

After an early morning rain scare, the intermediate class race got off to a mostly dry start, but the weather continued to be a big talking point, as it eventually stopped play with two laps remaining. Aron Canet welcomed the sight of the red flag, as he had plenty of time to focus on the falling drops of rain in his solitary ride to victory, but the biggest celebration came from Ai Ogura, who recovered from an early setback to become Moto2 world champion – the first Japanese champion since 2009. While his celebrations weren’t quite as sumptuous, Marcos Ramirez secured his first podium of the season after a strong weekend in Buriram. 

An impeccable start allowed Ogura to keep the lead from pole going into the first corner, but Canet was already harassing him for the lead by turn 3 and then the poleman got roughed up by Ramirez & Co at turn 12, dropping him down to 7^th position. Behind Canet and Ramirez, there was some early drama as Fermin Aldeguer and Tony Arbolino tangled out of contention at turn five, but also some fantastic opening lap performances from Jake Dixon, going from 11^th on the grid to 3^rd, Alonso Lopez from 14^th to 4^th and Darryn Binder from 16^th to 5^th. However, a mistake at turn five demoted Lopez back down to 13^th position on lap three, handing 5^th to Diogo Moreira. Ogura, Albert Arenas, Izan Guevara, Somkiat Chantra and Manuel Gonzalez completed the early top 10, while Sergio Garcia couldn’t capitalise on a solid qualifying position and immediately dropped out of point-scoring positions. 

Canet was untroubled at the front over the next handful of laps, with only Ramirez within striking distance but yet to show him a wheel. Dixon led the pursuit six tenths of a second back, with Moreira deposing Binder of 4^th at turn 1 - but with Dixon seemingly unable to reel in the leaders, Moreira took over the chase on lap eight and was left with a 1.5 second deficit to recover. Ogura seemed happy to hold station in 6^th position early on but a close overtake on Binder at turn 3 briefly got him in trouble with an investigation that led to no further action being taken. A fading Dixon left the door open for Ogura, Arenas and Guevara to all sneak ahead by lap 9, with Chantra and Gonzalez not too far behind either. 

While Canet and Ramirez got little airtime at the front, Ogura rejoined the podium positions at the start of lap 10, when he attacked Moreira at turn 3 and had a go at closing the two-second gap to the leaders. A string of fastest laps certainly helped that mission, the deficit halved only two laps later and while the Japanese rider continued his chase, all eyes were on the home favourite battling for fifth against Guevara and Arenas. 

At the halfway point of proceedings, Canet had seven tenths of breathing room over Ramirez, who was soon to come under threat from a charging Ogura. The poleman was right on the Spaniard’s rear wheel and his pace was nearly half a second quicker, so it was a matter of when rather than if with 10 laps left. The “when” came on lap 14 and the “where” was once again turn three, leaving Ogura a second behind the runaway leader. Although Ramirez was trying to hold onto the poleman, Canet and Ogura were in a league of their own pace-wise, while Moreira was circulating in a rather lonely 4^th. The Brazilian was two seconds behind the podium men and 1.5 seconds ahead of the continuing battle for 5^th, where Guevara was still holding off Chantra, with Arenas, Dixon and Gonzalez not too far back either. Deniz Öncü was in a lonely 10^th, three seconds behind the sizeable group.  

Lap 16 brought some drops of rain back into play and Ogura seemed to have taken that warning seriously, allowing Canet to scape nearly two seconds ahead and backing off towards Ramirez with six laps remaining. Meanwhile, Canet fired in his personal best lap to consolidate his advantage going into the final five laps and then cruised to victory with rain flags waving intermittently. Ramirez’s threat never materialised, and Ogura was able to drop him a second back for the final few laps, while the only action at the business end came from the fight for 4^th, where Chantra finally overcame Guevara with five laps to go and then quickly caught up with Moreira to rob him of 4^th one lap later. 

The red flag was eventually waved just as the race entered its final two laps, when rain intensified, allowing Canet, Ogura and Ramirez to celebrate their respective achievements early. Chantra also celebrated a fourth place on home soil, ahead of Moreira and Guevara, with Arenas, Dixon, Gonzalez and Öncü completing the top 10. 

With Ogura securing the title, Canet’s second position seems quite secure as well, as he enjoys a 22-point advantage over Garcia. The latter only took a few points for 12^th position but holds onto 3^rd place helped by Aldeguer’s DNF – the two separated by only 4 points. Gonzalez and Lopez are also not out of the podium conversation, as they are 9 and 11 points behind Garcia. 

Results:

Sunshine made a comeback for the intermediate class battle for pole and witnessed a bit of a statement from Ai Ogura, who seems keen to wrap up the title this weekend. The Japanese rider led the way after the first run and his top time gave him the confidence not to defend it on the second outing and risk towing someone else to pole. The strategy worked out, but mainly because rival Aron Canet had a moment at the final corner that cost him the five hundredths of a second to pole. Diogo Moreira continued an impressive weekend with a front row start from third, only seven hundredths of a second off pole. 

Tony Arbolino also came dangerously close to the front row, overcoming a painfully eventful Friday to qualify fourth, albeit starting 7^th due to a three-place grid penalty for his role in yesterday’s tangle on the entry to pitlane. That promotes Marcos Ramirez, Filip Salac and Albert Arenas to the second row of the grid, dropping the Italian to the top of third row. Arbolino will be lining up alongside Fermin Aldeguer and Sergio Garcia – the latter showing signs of redressal after escaping Q1 and qualifying 9^th. 

Manuel Gonzalez completed the top 10 and shares fourth row with a disappointed Jake Dixon and Q1 graduate Ayumu Sasaki. Home hero Somkiat Chantra led Q1 and eventually qualified 13^th, ahead of Alonso Lopez, who struggled to make progress in Q2, and Zonta van den Goorbergh, who will be banished to pitlane instead – as a consequence of the incident with Aldeguer. That releases Deniz Öncü to climb onto the final spot on fifth row. Darryn Binder and Dennis Foggia will be in the company of Izan Guevara on row six, the Spaniard missing out on Q2 by two hundredths of a second. Last week’s podium laureate, Senna Agius, continued to struggle in Thailand, but was less than a tenth off a Q2 promotion and had to settle for the seventh row of the grid. 

Results: 

After allowing Marcos Ramirez to spend most of the final practice session in the limelight, Ai Ogura not only demoted him from top spot in the final couple of minutes of P2 but also improved the all-time lap record set 24 hours ago by over half a second. Aron Canet tried to respond to keep the achievement under his name but came a quarter of a second short and settled for second position overall, with Diogo Moreira an impressive third place. 

Jake Dixon and Fermin Aldeguer were a familiar presence in the top five, with Ramirez failing to improve in the closing stages and dropping to 6^th. They were followed by Dennis Foggia and Manuel Gonzalez – both riders over half a second slower than the leader, with Alonso Lopez and Deniz Öncü completing the top 10 positions. 

Also joining the Q2 line-up directly will be Tony Arbolino and Zonta van den Goorbergh, both facing grid penalties for their tangle on Friday, as well as Albert Arenas and Filip Salac. Q1 should be a pretty entertaining proposition, with home favourite Somkiat Chantra having to battle against the likes of Darryn Binder, Sergio Garcia, Barry Baltus, Izan Guevarra, Ayumu Sasaki or Senna Agius. 

Results: