Dithyrambic on his performance on Friday aboard a acclaimed Ducati, this is the one we were waiting for this Saturday in demonstration in Malaysia. However, circumstances were not favorable for a Andrea Dovizioso who, moreover, experienced the pangs of the fall. Enough to revise its ambitions downward? No, this Saturday would just be an adventure and Sunday will be a different story...
Among the reds, we expected better than a second line on the starting grid on the Sepang track. But this one is full of Desmosedici! Because next to Dovizioso, we find Petrucci et Miller. All on a wet track which will be dry for the race that follows. This is assured, since we brought forward the test by two hours to avoid the rain...
On his performance, DesmoDovi comments, serenely: “ fortunately I was able to keep the second line, everything is fine. We may have been wrong about the choice of tires, especially the front which was very hard. I arrived a little too quickly and lost it. Too bad, because the first line was within reach.
“But we stay in the game, especially if it’s wet, we’re in good shape, we can win for the third year in a row. It won't be easy, especially in the dry with Marc and Maverick. It will then be even harder, but either way, we are in a good place. The high temperature puts everyone in crisis, especially on a physical level. But either way, I expect to be competitive ».
We will recall that among the reds, Lorenzo left his place to Pirro. The latter will start fifteenth. Finally, after the sanction imposed by the officials on Marc Marquez, Dovizioso finds himself fourth on the first row…
Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, MotoGP J.2: classification.
Marc Marquez will start seventh, but his pole position remains valid for the statistics. Highlighted, the drivers exiting Q.1.
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 2'12.161 | ||
| 2 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 2'12.709 | 0.548 | 0.548 |
| 3 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 2'13.009 | 0.848 | 0.300 |
| 4 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 2'13.097 | 0.936 | 0.088 |
| 5 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 2'13.183 | 1.022 | 0.086 |
| 6 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 2'13.274 | 1.113 | 0.091 |
| 7 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 2'13.413 | 1.252 | 0.139 |
| 8 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 2'13.463 | 1.302 | 0.050 |
| 9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 2'14.185 | 2.024 | 0.722 |
| 10 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 2'14.443 | 2.282 | 0.258 |
| 11 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 2'14.856 | 2.695 | 0.413 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 2'15.340 | 3.179 | 0.484 |
| 13 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 2'13.786 | 0.475 | 0.451 |
| 14 | 51 | Michael PIRRO | Ducati | 2'13.823 | 0.512 | 0.037 |
| 15 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 2'13.971 | 0.660 | 0.148 |
| 16 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 2'14.132 | 0.821 | 0.161 |
| 17 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 2'14.332 | 1.021 | 0.200 |
| 18 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 2'14.843 | 1.532 | 0.511 |
| 19 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 2'14.994 | 1.683 | 0.151 |
| 20 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | 2'15.364 | 2.053 | 0.370 |
| 21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 2'15.679 | 2.368 | 0.315 |
| 22 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 2'16.558 | 3.247 | 0.879 |
| 23 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 2'16.825 | 3.514 | 0.267 |
| Retired | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati |
