Dovizioso on pole for Malaysian Grand Prix

Andrea Dovizioso has secured pole for the penultimate race of the MotoGP season at a gloomy Sepang circuit.

The Ducati rider will be joined on the front row by the Yamaha pair of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo as qualifying was held on a wet track following an earlier downpour.

Dovizioso led virtually the entire Q2 session, topping the field after the first fliers before marginally improving after the chequered flag.

“I’m really happy to make pole position because the condition was difficult,” said the Italian, who made a mid-session switch from a soft compound rear tyre to the medium option.

“After one lap, I decided to come in the (pit) box. It wasn’t our plan to put on a harder rear but the soft was too soft and I couldn’t improve that lap time.”

Rossi pipped his team-mate Lorenzo after the flag as the factory Yamaha team put in a far better qualifying performance than last time out at Phillip Island.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Cal Crutchlow, and Andrea Iannone (Ducati) make up the second row.

Crutchlow came through Q1 with a time which would have put the LCR Honda rider on the front row, before recovering from a late fall to jump from 12th at the chequered flag.

Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki), Maverick Viñales (Suzuki), Alvaro Bautista (Gresini Aprilia), and Loris Baz (Avinitia Ducati) completed the top 10.

Baz managed to progress from Q1 despite an early fall which left him vulnerable to the pace of Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith.

Jack Miller (Marc VDS Honda) will start 14th for tomorrow’s 20-lap race at 1800 AEDT.

Result: MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying

Pos	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/Prev
1	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	2’11.485
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	2’11.731	0.246 / 0.246
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	2’11.787	0.302 / 0.056
4	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	2’11.874	0.389 / 0.087
5	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	2’12.558	1.073 / 0.684
6	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	2’12.598	1.113 / 0.040
7	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	2’12.869	1.384 / 0.271
8	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	2’12.981	1.496 / 0.112
9	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	2’13.325	1.840 / 0.344
10	Loris BAZ	FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	2’13.452	1.967 / 0.127
11	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	2’13.707	2.222 / 0.255
12	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	2’13.973	2.488 / 0.266
13	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	2’12.898	Q1 / Q1
14	Jack MILLER	AUS	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	2’12.907	Q1 / 0.009
15	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	2’13.776	Q1 / 0.869
16	Stefan BRADL	GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	2’13.850	Q1 / 0.074
17	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	2’14.179	Q1 / 0.329
18	Scott REDDING	GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	2’14.433	Q1 / 0.254
19	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	2’14.769	Q1 / 0.336
20	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Pull & Bear Aspar Team	Ducati	2’14.786	Q1 / 0.017
21	Tito RABAT	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	2’15.894	Q1 / 1.108