KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Spain’s Dani Pedrosa won the Malaysian Grand Prix for the second year in a row today but his compatriot and Honda teammate Marc Marquez finished second to extend his lead in the MotoGP title race.

Pedrosa swept past pole-sitter Marquez at the start before overtaking world champion Jorge Lorenzo for first place on lap five and leading the field home by 2.757 seconds for his third victory of the season.

Marquez, though, prevailed in a fierce battle with Lorenzo, passing the Yamaha rider with 11 laps of the sweeping Sepang International Circuit remaining to claim the 20 points awarded for second place. Lorenzo finished third.

With three rounds to go and a maximum of 75 points up for grabs, rookie Marquez leads the riders’ standings on 298 points, 43 clear of Lorenzo (255) with Pedrosa third on 244. — Reuters