When the going gets tough, the tough get going. And Pecco Bagnaia proved to be tough in Sepang. In the last few races the world championship leader had always struggled in qualifying, but a great response came in the Malaysian Grand Prix, because in one fell swoop he took pole position and the track record.
The reigning world champion found himself fifth after the first run of Q2, in which he was also teased by rival Jorge Martin, who followed in his wake, but did not disjoin. Not even having to abort the first flying lap of the second time attack due to a yellow flag made him lose his composure and then he was very good at taking advantage of the last attempt he had left available.
Just as time expired he unleashed his 1’57″491, a new track record for the Malaysian which earned him the seventh pole position of the season right ahead of Martin, who on the last lap slipped at turn 4 in an attempt to improve the 1’57″549 that had kept him ahead of everyone until then.
The two main contenders for the title will open a line-up that has strong Ducati colours, given that the Desmosedici GPs have monopolized the first two rows. And the good news is that completing the front row is that of a revived Enea Bastianini who, after passing through Q1, finished just 99 thousandths behind his teammate, despite having only one new tire available to use in Q2.
If in the front row there are all GP23s, the second is occupied by the GP22s, with the Gresini Racing one of Alex Marquez preceding the two of the Mooney VR46 entrusted to Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi. The former had also been on provisional pole for a few moments, but then had no opportunity to improve after he crashed at turn 9.
The first of the “others” is therefore Brad Binder, seventh with the KTM, but with a delay of more than half a second from Bagnaia’s pole position. And the third row is quite varied, because Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha and Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia will line up alongside the South African.
Top 10 also for Jack Miller’s other KTM, but the fourth row only confirms the overwhelming power of the Ducatis on this track, because the Borgo Panigale bikes all entered Q2 with the exception of that of the wild card Alvaro Bautista. Despite a fall at turn 15, Fabio Di Giannantonio is in 11th position, closely followed by Johann Zarco.
Aleix Espargaro’s complicated weekend continues. This time the Aprilia rider at least managed to stay standing unlike yesterday, but he was unable to avoid elimination at the end of Q1, so he will be forced to field his RS-GP in 13th position.
The Granollers rider will share the fifth row with Augusto Fernandez’s GasGas Tech3 and with Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha, who lost a concrete opportunity to make the cut after getting nervous due to Marc Marquez’s continuous and annoying attempts to pick him up leaves.
Among other things, the Honda rider ended his qualifying in the worst possible way, sliding at turn 7 and triggering a yellow flag which thwarted the last attempt for all his rivals on the track. Two uphill races are therefore expected for #93, given that he will start 20th.
Things went little better for his boxmate Joan Mir, credited with 16th place on the grid, ahead of Pol Espargaro, who also ended up spinning at turn 9 with his GasGas Tech3-branded RC16. Then there are the two RNF Racing Aprilias, with Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira ahead of Marquez.
Bautista managed to take another step forward, but the wild card of the reigning Superbike world champion is proving to be rather complicated. The 1’59″418 set this morning is an improvement of almost a second compared to yesterday’s time, but is only worth 22nd place on the grid, with only the Honda LCR of Iker Lecuona behind him, once again called upon to replace the injured Alex Rins.
Q2 ranking
Q1 ranking
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