Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia reigned supreme in MotoGP qualifying to claim pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Italian posted a strong time of 1.57.001s after a disappointing Friday that saw him have to go through the first phase of qualifying.
Gresini rider Alex Marquez secured second place on his GP24 Ducati, lapping only 0.016s behind.
VR46 Ducati’s Franco Morbidelli ensured Ducati locked out the front row after its slight dip in competitiveness.
Fabio Quartararo qualified a strong fourth for Yamaha, having been fastest in every sector except the final one with its long straights.
21-year-old Pedro Acosta claimed fifth for KTM after suffering a crash right at the end of the session.
Fermin Aldeguer qualified in sixth place on the Gresini, lapping only 0.001s faster than Honda rider Joan Mir.
Fabio Di Giannantonio pipped LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco to eighth place, though all nine riders were separated by 0.530s.
Alex Rins rounded off the top 10 on the factory Yamaha, closely followed by Pramac stablemate Jack Miller.
KTM test rider Pol Espargaro ended his session with a strong 12th place after automatically qualifying for the second phase on Friday.
After a late crash from Aldeguer on his final run in the first phase, Honda’s Luca Marini wasn’t able to improve on his final run while in 13th, meaning he missed out on a possible Q2 place.
Marco Bezzecchi will start as the lead Aprilia rider once again, but he will start down in a surprise 14th, given his current form with the Noale marque.
Last round’s race winner Raul Fernandez claimed 15th on the Trackhouse Aprilia, closely followed by Pramac Yamaha’s Miguel Oliveira.
Rookie Ai Ogura delivered 17th for Trackhouse to sum up Aprilia’s struggles around the Kuala Lumpur track.
KTM rider Brad Binder struggled to a disappointing 18th place, closely followed by Tech3 stable mate Enea Bastianini.
Somkiat Chantra delivered an impressive 20th, finishing ahead of Aprilia and Ducati test riders Lorenzo Savadori and Michele Pirro.
Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez rounded off proceedings after qualifying last as the Japanese marque trials out another V4 test.








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