MotoGP: Brilliant pole for record breaker Marquez
MotoGP pole position at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix went to Marc Marquez, who notched a new premier class record 13th pole of the year. Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo join him on the front row after the Q2 battle.
Marquez (Repsol Honda) set a record-breaking time of 1’59.791s to secure pole ahead of teammate Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who was 0.182s slower. The front row was completed by Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) who set a 2’00.203s best lap.
Marquez is the first rider below the 2’00 mark on a race weekend at Sepang. This also marks his 50th career pole and 13th of the season, setting a new record
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) both qualified on the second row of the grid, both within a second of Marquez’ blistering lap.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) qualified in 12th having advanced to Q2 but then being unfit to participate due to a big FP3 crash, which saw him break a bone in his left foot. His fitness to race will be assessed on Sunday morning.
Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) fell early in the Q2 session having advanced from Q1. The Japanese rider still qualified in 11th due to Pol Espargaro not taking part.
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) was declared unfit to participate further in the Grand Prix earlier in the day due to left arm injuries after his Friday crash left him struggling for strength and power.
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification
Moto2: Tireless Rabat on pole with title in sights
Tito Rabat starts from pole in Moto2â„¢ at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, as he looks to clinch the title, with Mika Kallio and Sandro Cortese completing the front row.
A time of 2’07.429 put Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) on pole ahead of title rival and teammate Kallio, who was just 0.158s slower. The front row was completed by Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), who was 0.277s behind Rabat.
It was a dominant pole performance for the Championship leader, never leaving the top spot on the time sheets. This is Rabat’s tenth pole position of the season. A top two finish by Kallio is the only way for him to postpone the title decider to Valencia and even then the Finn would be relying on Rabat’s result, with 41 points between them and two races to go.
The top five was completed by impressive rookie Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) and the resurgent Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Sitag), who both finished on the podium last time out at Phillip Island. Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) is also on row two.
Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team), Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert) and Axel Pons (AGR Team) completed the top ten, all within 0.715s of pole. The top 17 were split by just one second.
Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) had a strange front end crash at Turn 1 early in the session. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Gresini Moto2) and Ricky Cardus (Tech 3) also suffered small offs. Thitipong Warokorn (APH PTT The Pizza SAG) slid off at Turn 15 in the second half of the session. All riders were unhurt.
Moto2 Qualifying Practice Classification
Moto3: Hungry Miller secures Sepang pole position
Moto3 qualifying saw Jack Miller secure pole at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix as he bids to keep his title fight alive, the Australian joined by John McPhee and Jakub Kornfeil on the front row.
A stunning lap of 2’12.450s saw Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claim his eighth pole of the year ahead of McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG). The Scottish rider was 0.459s off pole, whilst Kornfeil (Calvo Team) completed the front row and was 0.566s from Miller. Miller’s lap was almost 1.5 seconds faster than Luis Salom’s previous pole record from last year.
Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) and Alex Marquez (Estrella Falicia 0,0) completed the top five, despite Marquez falling. Marquez goes into the race with his first chance of wrapping up the 2014 Moto3â„¢ World Championship title.
Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo), Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) and rookie Enea Bastianini (Junior Team GO&FUN) completed the top ten.
Alex Rins (Estrella Falicia 0,0) starts from 17th, 1.994s slower than Miller.
Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN Gresini) had technical problems early in the session, limiting his track time. Local hero Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Ongetta-AirAsia) was the first faller of the session. Scott Deroue (RW Racing GP) fell soon after.
Jasper Iwema (CIP) fell at Turn 6 as the session approached the midway stage. The final five minutes saw Marquez fall at Turn 6, ending his session early. Kent and Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) collided on their second last laps. All riders were unhurt.
Moto3 Qualifying Practice Classification
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