Talmacsi takes runaway repeat Sepang victory

2007 125cc World Champion Gabor Talmacsi repeated his Sepang victory from his title-winning year in emphatic fashion, taking the holeshot in the lower cylinder category race and never looking back. The Hungarian had been fast all weekend, starting from second on the grid and having topped the morning warmup timesheet.

The Bancaja Aspar rider took the holeshot from poleman Andrea Iannone, and after riding in tandem with the Italian he broke away on the sixth lap. A series of rivals attempted to chase him down, but Talmacsi was not for breaking in his chase for the runner-up spot in the 2008 standings. He now holds the advantage over Simone Corsi and Stefan Bradl with just 25 points up for grabs.

A rider who will replace Talmacsi in the Jorge Martinez `Aspar´-led squad next year, Bradley Smith proved to be the most durable challenge to Talmacsi´s dominance. Starting from thirteenth on the grid, the Briton fought his way up to the head of the chasing pack, cutting the difference between himself and the race leader before eventually running out of laps. Second place in the Malaysian race marked Smith´s fourth podium of the season.

The fight for third was narrowed down to three by the time the final lap rolled around, with Corsi taking the final podium spot in the draft to the line. Losing out on the rostrum after coming close for the second consecutive year, Sandro Cortese placed his Emmi-Caffe Latte Aprilia in fourth, with newly-crowned 125cc World Champion Mike di Meglio dropping down two places after starting the last lap in third.

Front row starter Pol Espargaro came home sixth, ahead of Belson Derbi teammate Joan Olive, Ajo Motorsport´s Dominque Aegerter, Jack&Jones WRB man Nicolas Terol and Iannone, who dropped down the field at the midway stage of the race.