Moto2 Sepang: Marquez claims crucial pole in Malaysia

Alex Marquez put himself in the best possible position as he heads towards his second chance to secure the Moto2 title after taking pole position in qualifying in Sepang ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

With a best of 2.05.244s under his belt before the rain returned to slow progress the EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider is well positioned to keep out of trouble at a track where he also sat on pole last season.

Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) will line up in second after giving chase, the Japanese rider finished just 0,151s behind the pole time as he found improvements before the tricky wet conditions all but halted progress.

Brad Binder arrived in Malaysia on a high after his win in Australia and ready to continue his late title challenge.

The South African broke the lap record in FP3, but traffic on track and chatter added to his issues leaving him unable to reach his full potential for Red Bull KTM Ajo, but he does prevent an all Kalex front row.

Marquez’s team-mate Xavi Vierge had enough pace for fourth. He lines up ahead of Tom Luthi, who was one of just a handful of riders to move up the timesheets in the closing minutes, the Dynavolt Intact GP rider had inadvertently helped Marquez to pole earlier in the session after acting as a slipstream target and leading the Spaniard around the track.

The final spot on row two went to Jorge Martin on the second Red Bull Ajo entry. He was also the best placed of the rookie riders in the session.

Sam Lowes chipped away at his personal best to rise to seventh for Gresini, while Marcel Schrotter looked closer to his early season form as he posted a lap good enough for eighth on the second Dynavolt entry.

Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) found himself sharing track space in qualifying with Luca Marini and the pair will also line up next to each other on race day - the Australian got the better of last years race winner for ninth, while Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) completes the top ten.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best of the Beta Tools Speed Up riders in eleventh - 
Jorge Navarro’s early spill saw him miss the track while it was at it’s optimum condition, he posted several personal best laps towards the end of the session to move up to 15th .

Stefano Manzi was the best of the riders who came through Q1 in 13th for MV Agusta Temporary Forward.

Lorenzo Baldassarri, who lead the championship at the start of the season for the Flexbox HP40 Team, failed to make it to Q2 - he starts 22nd.

Jake Dixon (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) only completed four laps in Q2 - he sits in 25th on the grid.

It is the home round for both Adam Norrodin and his Petronas team but they face an uphill struggle from 31st.