GERMAN KTM rider Sandro Cortese won the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang on Sunday to be crowned the inaugural Moto3 world champion.
Cortese started from the front row and raced to the chequered flag in 40 minutes 54.123 seconds over the 18-lap race.
He beat Zulfahmi Khairuddin, who started on pole, on a KTM bike by only 0.028 seconds with the Malaysian rider finishing second.
Cortese who started from the front row for the ninth successive race, remained calm in third spot for 17 laps and moved ahead of Zulfahmi in the final lap following team orders for the Malaysian to slow down.
Zulfahmi, 21, became the first Malaysian to secure a podium finish in any class of grand prix racing.
Zulfahmi led in the last seven laps and said he followed team orders to drop to second spot to avoid a possible crash.
