Another double Top 10 for Alma Pramac Racing that confirms itself widely in first place of classification reserved for Independent Teams (just 15 points from fourth place overall).
Danilo Petrucci wins 7 points (126 in total, new career record) that allow him to remain firmly in the race both for the First Independent Rider (Crutchlow 128, Zarco 123) and for the fifth position in the World Championship (Lorenzo 130). Six precious points also for Jack Miller (74) but the Top 10 of the classification is still far away (Rins 102).
Petrux’s start is not the best but already on the second lap, he overtakes Rins to recover the 9th position. The feeling with the rear tyre is not at the top but Danilo continues to push and on lap 17 he manages to pass Jack Miller for P8. A little mistake on lap 20 caused him to lose three positions but Danilo didn’t get discouraged and in the last laps, he overtook both Iannone and Jack to finish 9th.
Jack gets off a good start and is 7th after the first three corners. The race pace is good in the first 6 laps then the consumption of the rear tire makes him lose contact with the leading group. On lap 9 he fights hard with Petrux but he loses two positions. Jack remains focused and with five laps to go from the end he tries to chase Iannone for P9, finishing in Top 10.
P9 – Danilo Petrucci
“It was a pretty difficult race for me. Unfortunately starting from the third row penalized me especially in the first laps. With this temperature, it was important to manage the race but I always had to push. In the end, I managed to pass both Iannone and Jack but I lost some points on Zarco and Crutchlow. The goal for Japan? The first thing is to do a good qualifying”.
P10 – Jack Miller
“It was a good race and if I have to be honest I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I struggled with the rear tyre right from the start, especially in the left-hand corners. Halfway through the race, I tried to get closer to the front group and then there was a good battle with Danilo, Iannone and Bautista. The temperature was really high: a good training for Malaysia”.