Francesco Bagnaia produced a history-making MotoGP pole position lap around the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
The double reigning MotoGP champion set the fastest-ever lap on two wheels around the Sepang streets and will start at the front for the upcoming Sprint and Grand Prix.
Jorge Martin produced a sensational 1.56.553s lap time after his first two runs to top the session. However, when the pressure was at its absolute highest, the Torinese rider responded by configuring a mesmerising 1.56.337s time attack.
Bagnaia decimated his lap time from 12 months ago by a mind-blowing 1.154s and gained 0.7s from his first run earlier in the session.
Gresini’s Alex Marquez will join the two title contenders on the front row after a late crash from the factory Ducati rider of Enea Bastianini.
Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli finished the session in fourth and splits the Marquez brothers with the older brother Marc Marquez behind in fifth.
Bastianini ended his session in sixth, while the third row of the grid will consist of KTM’s Jack Miller and the two Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins.
Q1 graduates Brad Binder and Johann Zarco produced laps to put both riders in tenth and 11th spots with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales closing out the fourth row of the grid.
KTM veteran Binder and rookie Pedro Acosta battled once more in the first qualifying instalments for their heated battle to claim fifth place in the championship as the lead non-Ducati rider. This time, the South African edged out the Spaniard to progress through.
Acosta dropped to 13th in the closing seconds, and his final qualification place piled on the pressure after a difficult spell of form in the recent flyaway races. The rookie will have to work his way up the grid once more.
Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez secured 14th and 15th, respectively, but the latter’s more surprising feat was gaining a considerable advantage from his free practice times to start behind the GP23 Ducati rider.
Visible confusion ensued in the Aprilia garage when Aleix Espargaro arrived with four minutes to go. He opted to head back out on his spare bike but could not pull off a Q2 qualification spot, and therefore, will start the upcoming races in 16th.
Andrea Iannone came within touching distance of reaching the top two to secure a Q2 place, but a marginal last-corner slip-up cost the Italian dearly and will start in 17th place.
As Zarco became the sole Honda rider to reach Q2, his team-mate Takaaki Nakagami and the Repsol Honda duo of Luca Marini and Joan Mir will start 18th-20th on the grid.
The final two riders in the final classification were Augusto Fernandez and Lorenzo Savadori.
