Aspar’s David Alonso took a closely-fought win in the Malaysian Moto3 race to record his sixth straight win in the class.
Alonso’s victory means that he has won 13 races in the 2024 Moto3 season and he continues to set records in the lightweight class.
Ivan Ortola made the most of a poor start from polesitter Adrian Fernandez to take the lead down into the first corner.
David Almansa also had a stunning start, moving from ninth to second in the first corner before overtaking Ortola to head the pack.
World champion David Alonso and Dani Holgado were continuing to pressure the leading duo going onto the second lap, but remained stuck in position behind Almansa and Ortola.
Holgado nearly made contact with Ortola when pushing for second and highsided out of the race to put his second place in the riders’ standings in jeopardy.
The incident involving Holgado and Ortola forced Alonso to take avoiding action as the champion dropped down to 12th.
Polesitter Fernandez was then forced to retire whilst still in the leading group due to an engine failure.
Joel Kelso moved to the front of the pack after overtaking Almansa, and was soon followed through by Taiyo Furusato who was making progress from 16th on the grid.
Angel Piqueras joined teammate Fernandez in retiring from the race due to a technical problem, ending a miserable Sunday in Sepang for the Leopard team.
The engine woes continued for the Honda-supplied machines as Scott Ogden also pitted with an issue.
Furusato, who was the sole Honda runner in the lead group, took the lead from Kelso with eight laps to go, but the Australian rider was able to recover his position on the main straight.
Kelso ran wide at Turn 4 which allowed both Furusato and Alonso through, though he was still able to rejoin in third.
The leading pair were able to pull a slight gap on the duelling Ortola and Kelso, but Furusato still had firm control of the race with five laps to go.
A moment for Furusato in the penultimate corner allowed Alonso to take the lead with three laps to go as the Colombian looked to extend his winning run.
It appeared to be a seven-rider shootout with two laps remaining, as Ortola and Collin Veijer jostled for the final podium position.
The fastest rider on circuit in the closing stages was Jose Antonio Rueda, as the KTM Ajo rider was able to breeze past Ortola and Veijer to seemingly steal the final podium place.
There was immense pressure from Furusato which forced Alonso on the grass, but the battle for the lead would go right to the line.
The Colombian took the chequered flag to win his sixth race in a row in an emotional win for the Valencia-based Aspar team.
Furusato crossed the line second, just 0.088s behind race winner Alonso.
Rueda won out in the battle for third as he rounded out the podium behind the leading pair.
Ortola crossed the line in fourth, just under a tenth clear of Veijer in fifth, as one-time race leader Kelso took sixth ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka in seventh.
Stefano Nepa was eighth as he fended off a late charge from Matteo Bertelle in ninth, while Luca Lunetta rounded out the top ten.
Almansa would cross the line in 11th, six seconds clear of Jacob Roulstone in 12th.
Filippo Farioli took the flag in 13th ahead of Xabi Zurutuza in 14th, while Tatchakorn Buasri rounded out the points finishers in 15th.
