Repsol Honda rider dominates qualifying for the third time this season. Marc Márquez places seventh despite suffering a crash.
This is the third pole for Dani Pedrosa this season, after previous top spots at Jerez and Barcelona. It is his fourth pole in Malaysia since coming up to MotoGP.
Márquez suffered a crash on the final corner at the beginning of qualifying, although he was able to get back to the garage and change bikes.
With a best time of 1:59.212, Pedrosa was very close to the fastest ever lap at Sepang, set by himself in 2015: 1:59.053.
Marc Márquez
“We’re not at our best at the moment, but I think our race pace is better then our qualifying position. This morning we made a small mistake with the setup and lost the direction a little bit. Then we sorted things out and I felt really good on the bike again in FP4, but in qualifying I crashed on my first run, which completely changed our plans. I had to take my second bike but I didn’t feel perfect on it, so I did a lap that was good but not good enough. Anyway, we’re not happy with today but not completely disappointed either, as our pace isn’t bad. Tomorrow we’ll try and have a good race. It won’t be easy because here, every time you go on track the feeling is different, depending on temperature, if it rains or not, and so on, so we’ll see what it’s like tomorrow and do our best, like always.”
Dani Pedrosa
“I’m very happy with this pole, which is our third this year. It’s a nice feeling because I usually struggle in qualifying, but the track improved a lot with today’s sunny conditions, offering good grip. Both tyres worked very well in qualifying, so I was able to find the rhythm on my first flying lap and set a good time, and then I pushed harder and improved on my second run. I made a couple of little mistakes but it was enough for the pole, which is fantastic. I’m happy for the team, as this pole is for them. We’ll have to see what the conditions are like for the race as we’re still struggling in the wet, so we’re really hoping for the sun tomorrow.”
