Canet, who started fifteenth on the grid, completed the first lap in nineteenth position and gradually progressed to the front of the group on the seventh lap, leading it on Lap 10.
He managed to open up a small gap of 6 tenths over the rider in second but, at the start of Lap 11, he lost the front coming into Turn 1 and crashed out.
His teammate, Alonso López, rode between tenth and fourteenth place from the first stages of the race, and crashed on Lap 7 when in twelfth.
Canet and Alonso sixth and eleventh respectively
6 days ago
2018 Moto3 Malaysian GP – Arón Canet & Alonso López’s statements
Arón Canet
At the start I saw that everyone was pushing very hard and being very aggressive, and I decided to apply the same strategy as last year -starting softly and attacking later. When I picked my moment I started to overtake other riders, riding very comfortably, until I got into the lead.
In just four corners I achieved an advantage of 6 tenths and I think it was a race in which I would have been able to escape. I tried to do that, but I made a mistake when braking later than usual and I went down. The positive thing is that, once again, we were fighting for the victory.
Alonso López
The positive thing is that we are getting closer all the time. I’m very happy, because I was able to ride fast without using any references, which is very positive for us -especially ahead of next year. There were corners where I braked very late and I felt very comfortable and confident.
It’s a shame about the crash, because I was having a very good race and overtaking other riders, but these things happen; at Turn 9 I went through a wet patch under braking and I lost the front end.