MotoGP Malaysian GP: Alex Marquez claims pole from Marc Marquez; Jorge Martin out

Two riders and 20 points will determine the NASCAR Trucks title at Homestead. Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson received F1 Mexico GP grid penalties following a practice clash. Jorge Martin has withdrawn from the Malaysian GP, jeopardizing the MotoGP title aspirations. Alex Marquez claimed pole position from his older brother Marc Marquez at the Malaysian Grand Prix; Ducati dominated qualifying at Sepang.

Marc Marquez had been fastest on Friday, but Alex Marquez overtook him in Q2 by just 0.070 seconds. Pedro Acosta secured the front row for KTM, while Ai Ogura became the top Aprilia rider in fourth, with Marco Bezzecchi in fifth. As Q1 commenced, an Aprilia statement revealed that championship contender Jorge Martin had withdrawn due to injury, which gave Marc Marquez an advantage in the pursuit of a 10th world title.

Marc Marquez set the bar in Friday practice, but Alex Marquez led the way in Q2, posting 1m56.493s in his first five minutes to secure the top spot. Marc Marquez also broke the 1m57s barrier on his initial run, but was more than three-tenths slower than his younger brother. Ducati emerged as the frontrunner during the early portion of the session, with Bezzecchi edging out Alex Marquez by 0.029 seconds, and Ogura going quicker on a 1m56.617s.

However, Ducati's performance increased, with Marc Marquez dropping Ogura to second despite experiencing erratic moments on his factory GP26. Alex Marquez ultimately clinched pole position, asserting his dominance at Sepang, where he won the previous year, with a time of 1m56.493s. With no late alterations to the order at the front, the Marquez brothers secured the top two positions on the grid, and Pedro Acosta finished third after a solid late effort.

Acosta's strong late performance placed Aprilia on the second row, with Ogura in fourth for Trackhouse, followed by factory rider Bezzecchi. Fabio di Giannantonio ended up sixth for VR46, and Tech3's Enea Bastianini placed seventh after leading FP3 earlier on Saturday. Johann Zarco led Honda's charge in eighth, progressing from Q1, while Francesco Bagnaia progressed from Q1 but damaged his Ducati after losing half a second in the third sector, ending up ninth behind Franco Morbidelli's VR46.

Joan Mir and Maverick Vinales completed the top 12. Factory Honda rider Luca Marini failed to advance to Q2 by 0.007 seconds, placing 13th on the grid ahead of the LCR-entered RC213V of Honda rookie Diogo Moreira. Brad Binder could not join the remaining KTM members in the second half of qualifying, finishing almost eight-tenths behind the pack in 15th.

Yamaha's disappointing weekend at Sepang continued on Saturday, with the four M1s at the bottom of the grid. The best Yamaha car was Pramac's Jack Miller in 16th, followed by factory riders Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo in 17th and 18th respectively. Augusto Fernandez, replacing the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu, was the slowest rider in a reduced 20-bike MotoGP field, trailing just behind the Gresini Ducati of Iker Lecuona.