Sepang MotoGP Sunday Race Day Guide

Statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

MotoGP

Andrea Dovizioso is on pole for the second time this year and it is the first time he has had more than a single pole in one season in the MotoGP class.
This is the first pole for Ducati at the Sepang circuit since 2005 when Loris Capirossi was the fastest qualifier.
Valentino Rossi is on the front row for the eleventh time in 2016. He has finished in the top five in the last fourteen MotoGP races at Sepang.
In third place on the grid is Jorge Lorenzo, who has finished on the podium in his last five MotoGP races in Sepang, but has never stood on the top step of the podium at this circuit in the MotoGP class.
Marc Marquez, the winner in Malaysia two years ago, has not qualified on the front row for the first time since the San Marino Grand Prix.
Cal Crutchlow starts from fifth place on the grid, which is the sixth successive race that he has been the top Independent Team rider in qualifying. Following his win one week ago in Australia, Crutchlow could become the first British rider since Barry Sheene in 1977 to win back-to-back premier-class Grand Prix races.
After missing the last four races, Andrea Iannone has qualified in sixth place on the grid. Iannone has not finished a race in the MotoGP class at Sepang, having missed the race in 2014 due to injury. He retired in both 2013 and 2015 with technical problems.
Aleix Espargaro is in seventh place on the grid and is the top Suzuki rider in qualifying for the third successive race.
In eighth place on the grid is Maverick Viñales, who has finished third at the last two races and could become the first Suzuki rider since Kenny Roberts Junior in the 500cc class in 2000 to stand on the podium at three successive races.
Alvaro Bautista is in ninth place on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was the 7th fastest qualifier at the French GP in 2014 when riding a Honda.
Loris Baz heads the fourth row of the grid, which is his best ever qualifying result so far in his MotoGP career.

Moto2

Johann Zarco, the winner in Malaysia last year, is on pole for the sixth time in 2016. Zarco has only had one podium finish in the last six races.
Franco Morbidelli is in second place on the grid, which equals his best ever qualifying result. He is on the front row for just the third time in 2016 and he has finished on the podium at the last three races.
Axel Pons is in third place on the grid, which is just the second time in his Grand Prix career that he has qualified on the front row.
Jonas Folger, who finished third last year in Malaysia, heads the second row of the grid.
In fifth place on the grid is Tom Luthi, who has won the last two races. Another victory this weekend would make him the first Swiss rider to win three successive GP races since Stefan Dorflinger in 1984 in the 80cc class.
Championship challenger Alex Rins is down in 23rd place on the grid. This is the fifth time in the last six races he has qualified outside the top four rows of the grid.

Moto3

Brad Binder is on pole for the sixth time in 2016. On the last two occasions when he has started from pole he has gone on to win the race at Misano and Phillip Island. Last year in Malaysia, Binder set a new lap record on his way to finishing in second place.
Jorge Navarro, who is on the front row for the sixth time this year, has only had two finishes in the past seven races, which was a win in Aragon and 10th at Brno.
Francesco Bagnaia has qualified on the front row for the first time since he was on pole at Silverstone, which was also the last time that he finished on the podium.
Lorenzo Dalla Porto heads the second row of the grid, which is his best ever Grand Prix qualifying result.
Gabriel Rodrigo is in fifth place on the grid, backing up his good qualifying result from one week ago in Australia when he had his first front row start.
Niccolo Antonelli, who is in sixth place on the grid, will be aiming for his first podium finish since winning the opening race of the year in Qatar.