SEPANG, Nov 12 — Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Pedro Acosta successfully cruised to his maiden Moto2 world championship title after ending the race as runner-up at the 2023 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) today.
The Spaniard, who started from the sixth grid, found his way to move up to second place by clocking 36 minutes 11.506 seconds (s) before showing off his ‘wheelie’ skills to celebrate his momentous victory as the youngest Moto2 champion en route to the cross line in the Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
The 19-year-old finished +7.128s behind the eventual 2023 Malaysian GP champion, Fermin Aldeguer from Beta Tools SpeedUp.
Aldeguer, who started in the pole position stayed put until the end to secure his back-to-back title after the Thailand GP, last month.
Another Spaniard, Marcos Ramirez of OnlyFans American Racing rounded out the top three with 36:13.936s.
Speaking after the race, Acosta expressed his joy at being crowned as the Moto2 world champion and emphasised the satisfaction of achieving the title despite the hardships he had endured.
With just two more rounds to go, Acosta (320.5 points) had a 77-point advantage over his closest rival, Tony Arbolino from ELF Marc VDS Racing Team with 243.5 points.
In the meantime, two local wild card riders representing Petronas MIE Racing RW, Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Helmi Azman came up short in today’s race.
Azroy Hakeem failed to finish the race after falling off his bike for the second time while Helmi finished third last (23rd place) with 37:14.318s. — Bernama
