In what became a 10-lap sprint race for the lightweight riders, Honda Team Asia’s Taiyo Furusato put in a dominant performance to claim his debut Moto3 victory, which is also Honda’s first of the season.

Today’s Moto3 race was run over a reduced distance and in much warmer conditions than expected, due to a lengthy delay caused by an incident on the sighting lap for Jose Antonio Rueda and Noah Dettwiler. Once underway, Furusato was immediately on the attack, briefly taking the lead on the opening lap. The Japanese rider reclaimed the top spot on lap three, proceeded to open a gap to those behind and ultimately proved to be uncatchable, claiming his first Moto3 race win.

The Leopard Racing duo of Adrian Fernandez and David Almansa enjoyed a race-long battle for the remaining podium places. The pair ensured they stayed within the leading group on the Sepang circuit, despite a few spectacular moments in the closing stages. At the chequered flag, Fernandez claimed the final podium place, while Almansa was fourth.

There were also strong rides further down the field for Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who kept himself towards the sharp end early on, and GRYD – MLav Racing’s Marco Morelli, who made steady progress up the leaderboard. Lunetta crossed the finish line in 11th, while Morelli was 13th. Also finishing inside the points were Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Eddie O’Shea (GRYD – MLav Racing), who were 14th and 15th respectively.

Further back, Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) completed the 10 laps in 18th place, while Honda Team Asia’s Tatchakorn Buasri was 21st and Stefano Nepa (SIC58 Squadra Corse) was 22nd.

The Moto3 riders will enjoy a short break, before the season comes to its conclusion with the double-header events of Portugal (7-9 November) and Valencia (14-16 November).