Vietti denies Navarro's victory while Guevara claims a surprise P3 in Malaysia

Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) has won the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia, with the Italian taking an incredible victory after looking unstoppable on Sunday. Vietti took the win by 1.486 seconds, crossing the line in P1, ahead of Jorge Navarro (OnlyFans American Racing Team), who capped off an incredible weekend as he continued to impress while replacing the injured Joe Roberts. Navarro finished second, crossing the line ahead of Izan Guevara, who made a late podium finish with the CFMOTO RCB Aspar Team, benefiting from teammate Jake Dixon on the final lap.

When the lights went out, Ramirez made an incredible start, landing in P1 heading into Turn 1. However, Vietti then made a key move and took the lead into Turn 1, with OnlyFans American Racing Team’s Marcos Ramirez and Navarro in hot pursuit. Ai Ogura (MT Helmet – MSI) also started working hard at the start, storming into P2 and relegating Ramirez to third.

Ramirez didn’t wait long to respond, starting a duel with Ogura before retaining the move at the end of round 1. Meanwhile, Vietti put down the hammer and stunningly extended his lead to more than a second. It was incredible pace from Vietti, a rhythm that pushed the Italian to his limits – making a crucial mistake in Turn 1.

Vietti’s was now smaller, with Ramirez glued to his rear tire as Ogura and Navarro began dueling. Navarro kept this move on lap 7, relegating Ogura to third as he looked to claim his first podium since 2022. The #9’s attack didn’t stop there, sliding past Ramirez on lap 9, quickly setting his sights on leader Vietti.

The battle for the final spot on the podium continued, with Ogura responding on lap 10 to take third place. However, the #79 was stopped and retired on lap 11, much to the disappointment of the MT Helmets – MSI team. This left Ramirez to fight with Jake Dixon and Guevara of the CFMOTO RCB Aspar Team, much to the delight of the Malaysian crowd.

Once Dixon got into P3, the #96 started to extend his margin to half a second over Ramirez, moving closer to the leaders. Meanwhile, Navarro lost ground to Vietti at the front as the #13 regained composure and extended his lead to one second.

Further back, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) continued his recovery drive from P13 on the grid, working his way up to ninth in a remarkable drive. Canet quickly found his way through Manuel Gonzalez (Gresini Moto2), finishing eighth and setting his sights on Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in P7.

In the final round, no one could match Vietti’s brutal pace, allowing the Italian to take his third win of the season after beating Navarro in the Malaysian heat. It was a great drive for the #9, taking second place, while Guevara took the final spot on the podium after Dixon slowed at the start of the final lap.

Dixon held on to fourth place on the final lap and managed to hold off Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) as the Italian rounded out the top five on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ramirez claimed sixth place and was unable to hold onto the top five in the closing laps. The #24 showed incredible pace in the opening stages and crossed the line to beat Öncü, who held a comfortable margin over Canet.

Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) completed the top 10 while Gonzalez dropped to P11. The Spaniard qualified ahead of teammate Albert Arenas (Gresini Moto2) while Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp), Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) and Filip Salac of the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team secured the final points on the race day.

Izan Guevara, CFMOTO RCB Aspar Team, Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia