MotoGP Grand Prix of Malaysia 2017 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso kept his slender MotoGP title chances alive on Sunday as he won the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Italian finished ahead of his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Monster Tech 3's Johann Zarco in Sepang. Dovizioso's win means Honda's Marc Marquez, who finished fourth, still has work to do before he can celebrate a fourth world title; he has a 21-point lead heading into the final race of the season in Valencia.

Elsewhere, it was a tough day for Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, as he dropped from fourth on the grid to eventually finish in seventh.

MotoGP journalist Simon Patterson provided the full race result:

Ahead of the race, declared wet beforehand due to the damp conditions, BT Sport MotoGP offered a reminder of the title permutations:

With the title within touching distance for Marquez, it wouldn't have been a major surprise to see him play it sensibly in the early stages of the race.

But the Honda star, starting in seventh, launched a bold move into Turn 1, temporarily moving into first place. In the end, after running wide, he dropped into third ahead of title rival Dovizioso.

Knowing he needed to get past the Honda, Dovizioso was riding aggressively and applying a lot of pressure to his title rival.

As we can see courtesy of the MotoGP Twitter account, there were times when things did get a little too close for comfort between the two men:

Up the road, Zarco had been usurped at the head of the race by Dovizioso's team-mate Lorenzo, with the Ducatis looking strong as the race approached halfway.

Dovizioso was eventually able to get past Marquez into third and then shuffled past Zarco to nestle in behind his team-mate. The leading duo then started to pull away from the rest of the pack, giving the Italian's slender title chances a lift.

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Even so, Dovizioso in second and Marquez in fourth still would have meant the world title for the Honda man.

Per the Moto Race Feed account, Ducati had a big decision to make on behalf of their riders, who were both chasing wins for different reasons:

In the end, Dovizioso did come past Lorenzo, with the latter running a long way wide and almost losing control of his bike.

As noted by Patterson, Ducati didn't have to use team orders to get Dovizioso to the front:

Marquez, meanwhile, was back down in fourth, a long way behind Zarco in third position and a long way ahead of his team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who was in fifth. There was no great urgency from the Spaniard in the final stages, and Dovizioso was able to enjoy his triumph.

This strong Ducati display means there's still some hope for Dovizioso at the season climax in Valencia in a fortnight's time.

All the pressure will be on Marquez, and based on his daring move into Turn 1 here, there was clearly a desire to wrap up the fourth world title on Sunday. Even so, a man of his experience should still have enough to get over the line in the decider.