Taiyo Furusato Honda takes home his first Moto3 victory

· After being red-flagged due to an accident on lap two, the Grand Prix of Malaysia 2025 Moto2™ race, ran over a short 11-lap distance, was won by Jake Dixon (Boscoscuro), right before David Alonso (Kalex), second, and Barry Baltus (Kalex), third. The winner also set the new fastest race lap in 2’04.512 on lap two, improving the record set by Álex Márquez in 2019 (2’05.860) by more than 1.3 seconds. In the race, and throughout the entire weekend, all riders opted for soft-compound SC1 front tyres and supersoft E0126 development rear tyres.

· The Moto3™ race, delayed and reduced to 10 laps due to an accident on the pace lap involving KTM riders José Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler, was won by Taiyo Furusato (Honda) who took his first win in this category after starting second on the grid. The Japanese rider used soft-compound SC1 tyres on both axles – just as third-placed Adrian Fernandez (Honda) – while second-placed KTM rider Angel Piqueras opted for the medium SC2 front. Basically, all the riders used soft-compound SC1 rear tyres, except for Joel Kelso (KTM) who went for the medium SC2. The medium SC2 front option was the go-to choice for 15 riders, while the remaining 9 opted for the soft SC1.

· Today’s air and asphalt temperatures were the highest of the entire weekend. The Moto2™ and Moto3™ races were held with around 55°C on track and 34°C of air temperature.

· In the last act of the Asia Talent Cup 2025, also hosted in Malaysia, Ryota Ogiwara took the Championship home already at the end of Saturday’s race. The 17-year-old Japanese rider showed his true colours by winning eight out of twelve scheduled races and two second places. Over the course of the season, all Honda talent cup riders boosted their performance with Pirelli DIABLO Superbike medium-compound SC2 tyres on both axles.

Positive tyre performance and a new Moto2™ race record lap
 
“We are pleased with the way our tyres performed in this Grand Prix of Malaysia, even though both races were affected by the red flag, which reduced the number of laps. The Sepang circuit offers little chemical grip, even less so at the high temperatures recorded today, and this can trigger continuous sliding, making it more challenging for riders to control their bikes. And our tyres performed very well in this sense, in both classes, with the new fastest race lap in Moto2™ set by Jake Dixon, improving the former record by over 1.3 seconds, to prove it. In Moto2™ the new supersoft E0126 rear option brought on exactly the results we expected to achieve, offering much more grip to the riders than last year’s soft SC0, and allowing them to significantly improve their lap times. While Moto3™ riders used the same compounds they had in 2024, which confirmed its excellent performance. The Asia Talent Cup championship came to a close over the weekend, right here in Sepang. I would like to extend my congratulations to Ryota Ogiwara who, by winning eight races out of twelve, has shown great consistency, maturity and talent. And now we go back to Europe for the last two races of the season, where the Moto2™ World Champion will be crowned.”