#sepang

For factory Yamaha double world champion Jorge Lorenzo and the Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez, Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix was going to be a statement race. Lorenzo’s intent, clear from the outset, was to beat rookie Marquez at any cost. Pedrosa, the victim of plain bad luck at Aragon, looked determined to prove that he was still a force at the top of the MotoGP food chain. And Marquez, on his way to the 2013 title, wanted the world to know that his brain is bigger than his balls.

MotoGP‘s annual Pacific do-si-do begins this week in oppressively hot Sepang, Malaysia, home to the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. Combining high-speed racing and mind-numbing heat, it is the Pacific Rim’s answer to biathlon, the ridiculous Nordic merger of downhill skiing and sniping. Irrepressible soon-to-be World Champion rookie Marc Marquez needs only to hang around close to the front and stay on the podium from here to Valenciana to rule the big bike class of MotoGP in 2013.