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MotoGP Malaysian GP: Bagnaia destroys lap record to grab pole

Francesco Bagnaia will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position after winning a remarkable qualifying duel with championship leader Jorge Martin.

The Italian factory Ducati rider beat his own lap record by over a second with a scorching lap of 1m56.336s. This was a response to Martin earlier taking Sepang MotoGP qualifying times into uncharted  territory with what looked like an unbeatable 1m56.553s.

Martin had time for one further lap to counter Bagnaia’s time, but simply had no response aboard his Pramac Ducati.

The pole sets up Bagnaia perfectly for the sprint and the grand prix, in which he must try to make a serious dent in Martin’s 17-point advantage going before the final round.

More to follow

Q2 results:

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 7

1'56.337

  171.525  
2 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 7

+0.216

1'56.553

0.216 171.207  
3 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 7

+0.938

1'57.275

0.722 170.153  
4 Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 7

+0.942

1'57.279

0.004 170.148  
5 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 7

+0.964

1'57.301

0.022 170.116  
6 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 6

+1.029

1'57.366

0.065 170.021  
7 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 7

+1.221

1'57.558

0.192 169.744  
8 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 7

+1.255

1'57.592

0.034 169.695  
9 Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 7

+1.389

1'57.726

0.134 169.502  
10 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 7

+1.545

1'57.882

0.156 169.277  
11 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 7

+1.634

1'57.971

0.089 169.150  
12 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 7

+1.709

1'58.046

0.075 169.042  

Q1 results:

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 6

1'57.635

  169.633 330
2 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 7

+0.165

1'57.800

0.165 169.395 336
3 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 7

+0.204

1'57.839

0.039 169.339 334
4 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 7

+0.234

1'57.869

0.030 169.296 331
5 Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 7

+0.388

1'58.023

0.154 169.075 333
6 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 6

+0.472

1'58.107

0.084 168.955 333
7 Italy A. Iannone Team VR46 29 Ducati 6

+0.548

1'58.183

0.076 168.846 329
8 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 7

+0.665

1'58.300

0.117 168.679 328
9 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 7

+0.885

1'58.520

0.220 168.366 329
10 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 7

+0.983

1'58.618

0.098 168.227 332
11 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 5

+1.371

1'59.006

0.388 167.678 331
12 Italy L. Savadori Trackhouse Racing Team 32 Aprilia 6

+1.628

1'59.263

0.257 167.317 330
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