Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Dani Pedrosa swiped pole position with his last flying lap at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia Saturday relegating Johann Zarco to second on the grid by less that two-hundredths of a second. Pedrosa's fast lap of 1'59.212 pushed within two-tenths of a second of his own pole record from two years ago.
Johann Zarco (2nd) continued a strong weekend and completed the 15-minute Q2 as the top Yamaha. Andrea Dovizioso grabbed the final spot on the front row with his Ducati, a little more than two hundredths from the top spot. Valentino Rossi, who had set the top qualifying time with less than two minutes remaining, was pushed from first to fourth in the session's final minute.
Next to Rossi (4th) on the second row of the grid is his Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales. Completing the second row is Jorge Lorenzo (6th) who led the session early on.
And leading the third row? Marc Marquez (7th) with one of his worst qualifying sessions of his MotoGP career. Marquez crashed at tight Turn 15 early on his first fast lap. After returning to the pits, he set his best lap on his backup bike but could not improve on his position when he switched to primary Honda at the session's end.
Alex Rins, the fastest rider from Q1, improved his lot with eighth and top-Suzuki time. Rins was the final of the top eight riders to dip into the 1'59s. His Suzuki teammate Andrea Iannone grabbed ninth, completing the third row. Cal Crutchlow, who crashed during qualifying, rounded out the top 10.
Result:
Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff. / Prev. | |
1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'59.212 | ||
2 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | Yamaha | 1'59.229 | 0.017 / 0.017 | |
3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1'59.236 | 0.024 / 0.007 | |
4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'59.498 | 0.286 / 0.262 | |
5 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'59.538 | 0.326 / 0.040 | |
6 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Ducati | 1'59.622 | 0.410 / 0.084 | |
7 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1'59.694 | 0.482 / 0.072 | |
8 | 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | 1'59.992 | 0.780 / 0.298 | |
9 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Suzuki | 2'00.119 | 0.907 / 0.127 | |
10 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 2'00.181 | 0.969 / 0.062 | |
11 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Honda | 2'00.326 | 1.114 / 0.145 | |
12 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 2'00.770 | 1.558 / 0.444 | |
13 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 2'00.351 | 0.213 / 0.164 | |
14 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 2'00.451 | 0.313 / 0.100 | |
15 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 2'00.469 | 0.331 / 0.018 | |
16 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 2'00.718 | 0.580 / 0.249 | |
17 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 2'01.050 | 0.912 / 0.332 | |
18 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 2'01.207 | 1.069 / 0.157 | |
19 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 2'01.228 | 1.090 / 0.021 | |
20 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 2'01.413 | 1.275 / 0.185 | |
21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 2'01.570 | 1.432 / 0.157 | |
22 | 60 | Michael VAN DER MARK | Yamaha | 2'02.376 | 2.238 / 0.806 | |
Note: Riders in bold participated in Q1.
Comments
Great writeup...
Great writeup Mike! You make it seem like I was right there watching it live.
Improvment
93 set his fastest time on run 3 with is # 1 bike. Not much faster but still faster than the time set with his #2 bike on run 2.
You are right....
He went from a 1'59.714 to a 1'59.694 on his final run with the primary bike. What I should have written was that Marquez couldn't improve on his position. Thanks for the catch.
Save It On The Knee gets a new definition
Holy crap!
No, we have never once seen "saving it with the knee" be to this degree. Brief video of Marquez's AMAZING low side save in QP. The perspective at 25 seconds in is great. Look at the black line from his front. And his knee slider/leathers make a pivot from the force placed on it. Elbow is down too.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WY0zJrk5ZnQ
Loris Baz
Let's not forget Loris Baz's save during qualifying in Austin this year. That was even more incredible. From the higher front angle it looked like a crash already completed...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqthX3QX49k
^ Thanks!
^ Thanks!
Slow motion sure makes these clearer than live/standard speed . For a moment there Baz is LAYING on the floor. Then his (huge) leg just boosts him.
Go look again at the size of the skid mark from MM93'S front tire. The forward bias of the bike there, and the lack of front adhesion on the way down. So far from an apexing moment where front/rear balance is closer. Momentum is forward rather than turning, and his flippin leathers pirouette on his leg! I am sticking w it as the most extreme one I have ever seen, feel free to disagree. BTW, nice to hear from you Pvalve - 5 yrs ago or so you wrote a bunch more (I used to agree with you more then too!), and these days there is so much more to enjoy eh?
;)
Anyone else have a contender?
Perhaps not the most extreme
But my fave is still Niklas Ajo at Assen 2015. He one up'd Mamola with that one IMO.
Heck yes reynard, must be the
Heck yes reynard, must be the single most spectacular save! And in a group of one of "save a high side on the feet while making a chicane around a wall and over the finish line." It will be quite a while before we get another one of these.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m_bIaupAeSE