Quartararo storms to Malaysia pole

Fabio Quartararo
Fabio Quartararo

Rookie Fabio Quartararo took a stunning pole position in a hectic Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying that saw newly crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez crash heavily.

The Petronas Yamaha SRT rider put up a record lap to take pole with a 1:58.303s time while fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales was 2nd. Franco Morbidelli made it a Yamaha front-row lock-out with third on the second SRT bike.

Jack Miller will start from fourth, joined on the second row by Q1 pacesetter Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Marquez high-sided in the final two minutes of the session while following Quartararo.

Mind games were on display with Marquez desperate to follow Quartararo as the pair began their final runs.

But then suddenly the six-time MotoGP champion suffered a huge high side at Turn 2, which resulted in the Spaniard being thrown from his bike. He initially landed on his feet before face planting on the asphalt.

Luckily Marquez was able to walk away from the incident but will start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid.

“I’m ok, I’m in a lot of pain all over my body after a big crash," said Marquez.

Can Marquez win from 11th?
Can Marquez win from 11th?

"We have a good setting for race rhythm, but we were struggling a little bit with one fast lap and especially looking for something more in the change of directions. The tyres were ready but I was maybe a little too aggressive in the change of direction. Honestly, I’m more disappointed starting 11th than with the crash itself. From 11th it will be difficult, even if we did have a good rhythm in FP4. This season we have had 17 almost perfect qualifying practices, but we will see what we can do tomorrow."

Alex Rins, Petrucci and Johann Zarco secured the third-row spots in Q2.

Jorge Lorenzo, who has been destroyed by Repsol Honda teammate Marquez, will start a disappointing 18th after falling more than a second short of the Q1 pace.

Lineup

Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m58.303s 0.000s
2 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m58.406s 0.103s
3 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 1m58.432s 0.129s
4 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 1m58.725s 0.422s
5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m58.951s 0.648s
6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m59.000s 0.697s
7 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m59.090s 0.787s
8 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1m59.097s 0.794s
9 Johann Zarco LCR Honda 1m59.139s 0.836s
10 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m59.173s 0.870s
11 Marc Marquez Honda 1m59.178s 0.875s
12 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 1m59.640s 1.337s
13 Joan Mir Suzuki 1m59.374s Q1
14 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m59.435s Q1
15 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m59.812s Q1
16 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 2m00.072s Q1
17 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2m00.205s Q1
18 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 2m00.478s Q1
19 Mika Kallio KTM 2m00.644s Q1
20 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 2m01.045s Q1

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