Marquez brothers grab pole positions; Marc masters wet Q2; Sunday Race times advanced

Sepang, 3 Nov 2018: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) 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 Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) by over half a second in P2, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lining up on the outside of the front row in P3.

It was Marquez who led the field over the line and it was he who set the first benchmark; a 2:13.641 edged out Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) – who was just behind the Spaniard on track – by 0.027, with Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) also within a tenth after the first lap – 0.051 splitting the top three.

With a banker lap under his belt, Marquez then slammed in a rapid second lap to considerably shift the goal posts. A 2:12.161 a full 1.264 quicker than Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) as the World Champion put daylight – and more – between himself and his rivals. However, the Repsol Honda rider then lost the front at Turn 4 and unlike he’s been able to do several times already this weekend, there was no saving this one. Down he went after setting a new session best first sector, but he was back up and in the pits with over three minutes still remaining. The aforementioned gap was 1.264 seconds, but could it be beaten? Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) shot up to P2, but he was still over a second off and then on his final flying lap, the Italian crashed at Turn 9. Iannone – following Dovi on track – had gone provisional P2 but the gap was still 0.936. A flying Frenchman then propelled himself into second; Zarco cutting the gap to eight tenths, with fellow YZR-M1 rider Rossi then leapfrogging him into second.

In the end, no one could come close to matching Marquez and despite Zarco putting in a personal best lap to re-take P2 from ‘The Doctor’, the gap between the number 93 and his rivals was still 0.548. A masterclass from Marquez in the wet around the Sepang International Circuit, this his 80th career pole position across all classes. Zarco and Rossi join the seven-time Champion on the front row, with Iannone the only other rider within a second of pole – P4 for a second race in a row for ‘The Maniac’.

His late crash meant Dovi had to settle for P5 in Q2, with fellow Desmosedici rider Miller ending the session P6 after setting his best lap on his final lap. Behind the Australian was teammate Danilo Petrucci, with both Alma Pramac Racing riders slipping down the order after sitting on the provisional front row. Friday’s quickest rider Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will launch from P8, just ahead of Q1 graduate Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) in P9.

Winner at Sepang in the wet conditions in 2012, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) qualified in P10, just ahead of compatriot and Free Practice’s fastest man Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) – P11 for the Australian GP winner. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will line up in P12, a crash at Turn 4 in Q2 after setting the second quickest time in Q1 ended his hopes of a top ten result.

Marquez reigns in the wet, but with an updated Sunday Time Schedule, the chances of the race being dry have increased. What will the weather bring for the race? Who knows, this is Malaysia after all. But either way it’s set to be a belting battle.

New Sunday schedule for Malaysian GP

Due to weather concerns after the heavy downpour seen before qualifying for the premier class, Sunday’s race times have been brought forward for every class.

The new Sunday schedule (IST) is as follows:

Moto3 Warm Up – 05:10 AM

Moto2 Warm Up: 05:40 AM

MotoGP Warm Up – 06:10 AM

Moto3 race – 07:30 AM

Moto2 race – 08:50 AM

MotoGP race – 10:30 AM

Dominant Alex Marquez storms to Moto2 pole

Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) stormed to Moto2 pole position, setting the only 2:05 time in qualifying to better closest challenger Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) by 0.488 seconds. 2:05.629 was the lap, with Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up) completing the front row of the grid at the Sepang International Circuit.

From the outset, it was Marquez who looked menacing and sure enough on his third flying lap, the Spaniard set a sensational 2:05.629 to go 0.692 faster than anyone else. The gauntlet was well and truly thrown down, with Quartararo and Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) sitting as his two closest challengers in P2 and P3 – 0.026 separating the duo, with Marini just 0.009 off a provisional front row with 15 minutes to go.

Marini went from P4 to P2 with under five minutes remaining, the gap to Marquez still 0.488 though. Quartararo, after being pushed down to P3 by Marini, then set a personal best lap, but it wasn’t enough to improve his position as the standings were set.

So it was Marquez who took pole – despite a late crash at Turn 1 – to continue his dominant weekend, with Marini and Quartararo joining him on the front row. Fourth place went to Gardner, the Australian producing career-best qualifying in P4 to finish just 0.052 off the front row, with Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) lining up alongside him in P5.

Then came the two Championship protagonists. Overall standings leader Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) lines up on the outside of the second row in P6, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) starting just behind the Italian in P7 – the duo playing a little bit of cat and mouse in qualifying as tensions start to rise, with Bagnaia able to clinch the Moto2™ title on Sunday.

Marquez looks like he’s going to take some beating in Malaysia, but the bigger story is can Bagnaia seal the World Championship? The two title rivals line up in tandem on the grid, with Oliveira out to put the celebrations on hold. An intriguing encounter awaits.

Martin produces Malaysian magic to take Moto3 pole

Moto3 Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) took pole for the 11th time in 2018 after setting a new lightweight class qualifying lap record. The Spaniard heads main title rival Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) by 0.032, with Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) continuing his strong weekend to take P3 on the grid.

It was John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) who led for the majority of the session and with 15 minutes remaining, despite Bezzecchi briefly taking over at the top, McPhee then moved the goal posts again – his advantage sitting at an impressive 0.584. However, this was immediately trimmed to 0.052 with Martin going second fastest, with Free Practice’s fastest man Arbolino then jumping up to second – 0.020 now the gap between the top two.

The standings remained the same before it was time for the final lap dash, with Martin and Bezzecchi both leaving it late to head out – the latter crossing the line with four seconds of the session remaining. Arbolino, Martin, and Bezzecchi all had red sectors in the opening two sectors, but provisional pole man McPhee was also looking to increase his advantage – and that’s exactly what he did. However, it was only by 0.060, with the three riders behind all on fast laps.

Martin came across the line to top McPhee’s new benchmark by 0.350, as Arbolino slotted into P2 after he also beat the Scotsman’s time. Bezzecchi then went quicker than both McPhee and Arbolino but lost out to his title rival by a slender 0.032. Nonetheless, the top two in the Championship lock out the top two grid slots to set us up for a tantalising race.