FLASH: Marc Marquez takes pole but receives 6-place penalty

INDIAinF1 Desk November 3, 2018

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Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda qualified on pole but will start from 2nd row due to a grid penalty. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda qualified on pole but will start from 3rd row due to a grid penalty. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

Sepang, 3 Oct 2018: After taking pole position by over half a second, 2018 Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has been handed a six-place grid penalty after being deemed to have been riding irresponsibly in an incident with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone in Q2. This now means Marquez will start from P7, with second place Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) promoted to pole, with everyone down to seventh place Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) moving up a position for Sunday’s race.

Earlier, Marc Marquez had secured an 80th career pole position after he mastered the wet Q2 conditions at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix. The 2018 World Champion was in superior form at the Sepang International Circuit to set a quickest lap of 2:12.161 to beat Zarco by over half a second in P2, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lining up on the outside of the front row in P3.