SA's Binder wins in Malaysia, Marquez crowned Moto2 champ

Spain's Alex Marquez was crowned world champion in the Moto2 class as he finished second in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday following a tough race against winner Brad Binder.

The Kalex rider, who is the younger brother of MotoGP world title holder Marc Marquez, completed the race at the Sepang circuit in 38min 8.601 sec.

He was 0.758 behind Binder, but a second-placed finish was enough for him to take an unbeatable lead in the standings with 262 points, and just one race remaining this season.

"It's a dream come true," said an emotional Marquez, as his brother Marc jumped and cheered at the side of the track, pumping his fists in the air.

The 18-lap race was a hard-fought duel between Binder and Marquez. The South African, riding a KTM, initially took the lead only for Marquez to push past him near the start of the race.

But a few laps later, Binder managed to swing inside the Spaniard as they rounded Turn 1, with the rivals' bikes wobbling as they briefly made contact, and get back in front.

The South African held on to the lead for the rest of the race, with Marquez never really looking like a threat, but coming second was enough to hand the 23-year-old the world title.

Binder said that he gave "my absolute all today".

"The track was insane, the grip was absolutely nothing compared to what we had all weekend," he added.