Pecco Bagnaia secured pole position in an exciting Q2 battle against Martin, where they broke the lap record.
Francesco Bagnaia claimed a fantastic pole position at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia by smashing the existing lap record with a time of 1:56.337. The Italian racer completed a perfect lap, gaining a 0.216s lead over title competitor Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) for the rest of the weekend. The #89 hit the 1:56 bracket quickly but couldn’t improve on his second run once Bagnaia set a new record. Alex Marquez from Gresini Racing MotoGP™ will be on the front row along with Bagnaia and Martin following an impressive lap that put the Spaniard in third place, trailing by 0.938s.
Sepang lap records shattered
During FP2, teams and riders had one last chance to fine-tune their setups, Bagnaia was the fastest at the end, having a busy session with Martin on the track. The scene was prepared for qualifying, as Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) quickly set an impressive pace in the beginning of Q1. As the riders made their second run, their lap times started to decrease. Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) pushed hard to claim the first and second positions.
After Q2 began, Martin quickly took the lead on the first lap by reaching a time of 1:56 for the first time. The #89 continued to progress, establishing a fresh record and a new time for title challenger Bagnaia to pursue after the Italian completed his initial session in P2. The current World Champion aggressively started his second run, pushing himself to the maximum and achieving an incredible time of 1:56.337, while his teammate Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) crashed in the last minute.
Franco Morbidelli from Prima Pramac Racing led the second row of the grid by setting a faster time in the final moments of Q2, securing fourth place on the grid. The Italian rider will begin in front of Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), who was unable to improve his qualifying time on new tires to get on the front row. Bastianini, on bike #93, will be alongside on row two, unable to better his initial time due to a crash at Turn 15.
Jack Miller from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will be the highest-ranked Pierer Mobility rider, securing seventh place on the grid and extending his remarkable weekend. Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins from Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ will be on the third row with the #43, achieving progress at Sepang.
Earlier, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) will begin the race from the 13th position on the grid due to falling short of Q2 by 0.039s. The newcomer will lead the way ahead of Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing), who need to make up ground when the race begins. In the meantime, Andrea Iannone (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) will start from the 17th position on the grid as he continues his impressive comeback in MotoGP™.
The excitement continues on Saturday with more action to come in the crucial Tissot Sprint at 15:00 local time (UTC +8), where Bagnaia aims to close the gap on Martin’s lead after securing pole position!
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