This afternoon's Malaysian Grand Prix here at the Sepang Circuit will start with a Repsol Honda rider on pole position, but it won't be the world championship leader, Marc Marquez, instead it's his teammate Dani Pedrosa, who hasn't started on the front row of the grid since Brno earlier this year.
Starting alongside the Spaniard is the Monster Yamaha tech 3 rider, Johann Zarco, who put on a stunning show for the fans in last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, so we can expect yet another storming performance from the Frenchman around the Sepang International Circuit here this afternoon.
Rounding out the front row is title hopeful Andrea Dovizioso and with Marc Marquez all the way back in 7th place, the Ducati rider will be hoping to make up ground in the championship fight this afternoon.
Row two consists of Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales and Jorge Lorenzo, all formidable challengers as we have seen in the past few racesโฆ
โToday was quite full-on for the team, in order for us to make another step concerning the dry set-up of the bike,โ explained Yamaha's Massimo Meregalli. โIt wasn't easy, because it was another hot day at the Sepang track, which makes riding three sessions in total a real challenge, but our riders came through. Valentino and Maverick were finally quite comfortable with their bikes and were able to push hard.โ
โVale had already shown he's feeling good on the dry when he set the fastest time in FP3. His pace has been very fast in all of today's sessions and his fourth position on the grid is not a bad result. Maverick wasn't quite as comfortable in this morning's session, but he and his crew could improve his feeling just in time for the qualifying. โ
โHe'll also be on the second row of the grid, which is a good starting point. Today we were able to compare almost all the tyre choices and we have a bit of an idea about which tyres both riders will use in tomorrow's race. We'll continue to work tonight to see if we can find a way to fine-tune the balance of the bikes and find some extra time in some parts of the track. Here the weather can play a big role in the outcome of the race, so we'll have to adapt to whatever situation comes our way."
Row three consists of Marquez and the two Suzuki riders, Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone, who have improved dramatically in the last few racesโฆ
โWe are happy because we have both riders in the third row, so it's not too bad,โ said Davide Brivio, Suzuki Team Manager. โWe are pretty close to the top riders, so weยดll try to have a good race. Today Alex was brave because he had to do twice the work with Q1 and Q2. He did a good job improving his race pace. Regarding Andrea, maybe he couldn't take make use of the qualifying like he wanted, but he is 9th in the grid, and if he is able to make a good start he could have a good race tomorrow.โ
Cal Crutchlow rounded out the top ten.
GP of Malaysia โ Qualifying classification:
1. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'59.212
2. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'59.229 +0.017 / 0.017
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team - 1'59.236 +0.024 / 0.007
4. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'59.498 +0.286 / 0.262
5 Maverick VIรALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'59.538 +0.326 / 0.040
6. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'59.622 +0.410 / 0.084
7. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'59.694 +0.482 / 0.072
8. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'59.992 +0.780 / 0.298
9. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 2'00.119 +0.907 / 0.127
10. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda - 2'00.181 +0.969 / 0.062
11. Jack MILLER, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 2'00.326 +1.114 / 0.145
12. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 2'00.770 +1.558 / 0.444
13. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 2'00.351 (Q1)
14. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 2'00.451 (Q1)
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 2'00.469 (Q1)
16. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 2'00.718 (Q1)
17. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 2'01.050 (Q1)
18. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 2'01.207 (Q1)
19. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 2'01.228 (Q1)
20. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 2'01.413 (Q1)
21. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 2'01.570 (Q1)
22. Michael VAN DER MARK, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2'02.376 (Q1)
