The qualifying of the MotoGP class at the Sepang circuit ends with Jorge Martin’s pole. Pecco Bagnaia only 9th.
The Malaysian GP gets to the heart of the weekend with a heart-pounding Saturday. In FP3 Pecco Bagnaia, new leader of the MotoGP World Championship, remedies a fall in an attempt to launch the time attack, but falls and is forced to go through Q1. A difficult situation for the Turin rider of Ducati in the most important weekend of his career, the tension is cut with a knife in his corner of the box.
In the first heat of qualifying there is an immediate need to suffer in the Borgo Panigale race. Pecco Bagnaia is the first to take to the track in Q1 but behind him a group of rivals is formed, with the Hondas of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargarò sticking to the exhausts of the classification leader to take advantage of his wake. The Ducati rider from Turin signs a good 1’58 ″ 645 which allows him to return to the pits in command, there are moments of tension to decide whether to mount the second new soft tire on the rear. Everything goes smoothly: Pecco and Marc pass in Q2.
Bagnaia, Espargarò and Quartararo in the rear
There is no shortage of surprises in the second heat of qualifying. Pecco Bagnaia ends up on the ground in the final stages after having mounted the last new soft tire and will start from ninth position. The pole position is conquered by Jorge Martin who signs the new record of the circuit in 1’57 ″ 790. Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez will start from the front row, respectively four and six tenths behind.
Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Rins and Luca Marini will start from the second row. In the third row we will find Franco Morbidelli, Maverick Vinales and Pecco Bagnaia. It certainly does not go better for the two big names from Aprilia and Yamaha: Aleix Espargarò 10th, Fabio Quartararo 12th. Pecco’s ninth place is certainly not a good result, but not even a drama considering the performance of his direct rivals.
In the post-qualifying session Davide Tardozzi addresses sharp words towards Marc Marquez, who has followed the Ducati of Pecco Bagnaia in an almost annoying way to exploit its wake. “Some professionals should give a different image, I would have an adjective but I prefer not to pronounce it – the team manager told Sky Sport MotoGP -. But that’s not what caused Pecco problems. He made a mistake, he apologized to the team, but he has the pace and we are sure that we can have a good race ”.
A blistering lap, the outside title contender on the front row and the other three 9th or lower! 🔥
We’re all set for history-making #MalaysianGP tomorrow! 😎
DON’T MISS IT! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Y3Z4hVkxcs
– MotoGP ™ 🏁 (@MotoGP) October 22, 2022
