MotoGP: Martin wins pole as title rivals choke at Sepang
Two MotoGP World Championship contenders crashed and another qualified all the way back on the fourth row as Jorge Martin shattered the All-Time Lap Record in Q2 at the Sepang International Circuit.
Championship Francesco Bagnaia masterfully got himself out of Q1 only to drop his Desmosedici on its front end while on-track to go to provisional pole at the start of his second run in Q2 at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia.
He would be classified ninth but still out qualified title rivals Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Fabio Quartararo, the former of whom went down at Turn 8 and the latter of whom could only take 12th on the grid.
Sepang Qualifying Results
| POS | RIDER | NAT | TEAM | TIME/DIFF |
| 1 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | 1m57.790s |
| 2 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP21) | +0.456s |
| 3 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +0.664s |
| 4 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP21)* | +0.700s |
| 5 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +0.785s |
| 6 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.789s |
| 7 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.864s |
| 8 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP) | +0.976s |
| 9 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP22) | +1.072s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP) | +1.145s |
| 11 | Joan Mir | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +1.355s |
| 12 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.425s |
| Qualifying 1 Cutoff | ||||
| 13 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 1m59.053s |
| 14 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo (GP22) | 1m59.064s |
| 15 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1) | 1m59.256s |
| 16 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP21)* | 1m59.278s |
| 17 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1m59.363s |
| 18 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | 1m59.690s |
| 19 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 1m59.699s |
| 20 | Remy Gardner | AUS | KTM Tech3 (RC16)* | 1m59.803s |
| 21 | Alex Marquez | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 2m0.008s |
| 22 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | KTM Tech3 (RC16)* | 2m0.077s |
| 23 | Tetsuta Nagashima | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 2m0.803s |
| 24 | Darryn Binder | RSA | WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)* | 2m10.717s |