Francesco Bagnaia beat the previous Sepang circuit lap record by more than a second. He finished Q2 with a little more than two tenths ahead of Jorge Martin.
Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia fought a merciless duel during Q2, breaking the Sepang circuit lap record one by one. Bagnaia was the first to do so with a first time of 1’57.191, but his championship rival responded almost immediately by going below the 1’57 mark, with a time of 1’56.996.
The Madrilenian did not stop there since his second fastest was recorded in 1’56.553, almost a second better than the record previously established at Sepang.
If pole seemed promised to Martin, Bagnaia counterattacked in his second run to end the session with a lap in 1’56.337. Martin once again tried to regain his possession, but he widened the trajectory on his last lap. He will therefore start from second position on the starting grid.
Relegated to almost a second, Alex Marquez took third time. The second row on the grid will be made up of three other Ducatis, those of Franco Morbidelli, Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini. This is also the third Ducati sextuplet in MotoGP history after the Malaysian and Qatar Grands Prix last year.
Jack Miller qualified seventh ahead of the two Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins. Brad Binder set the 10th time ahead of Johann Zarco and Maverick Viñales, the first Aprilia representative in the hierarchy.
Q2 ranking
Senegal
