Pedrosa Dominates Sepang Qualifying

Oct 24, 2015
3 min read

Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow's twenty-lap Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position after smashing the lap record on his opening effort. The Spaniard has been in fine form all weekend, but his lap of 1:59.053 came out of nowhere! The Honda rider demolished the existing pole record, set by Marc Marquez last year, by eight tenths and stands four tenths clear of the rest. His race pace in FP4 also looked mighty, as did that of his team-mate.

Marquez couldn't get close to Pedrosa today, his best effort being a 1:59.462. The 2014 Sepang winner was pushing though, almost too much as he lost the front of his RC213V through Turn Twelve on his second flying lap. Somehow he managed to save it, but all he could do was consolidate his position in the middle of the front row.

Jorge Lorenzo was set for completing the front row but for a brilliant final lap from the championship leader, Valentino Rossi. The Italian just missed out on the front row on his second run and looked like that was all he could manage at the start of his final lap. A very quick final couple of sectors saw Rossi take a crucial front row start with a 1:59.726. Lorenzo was not happy to find out he'd been denied a front row when he was turned away from parc-ferme.

Lorenzo looked stronger than Rossi on race pace yesterday, but FP4 was inconclusive because both had very fragmented runs due to multiple set-up changes. Crucially for Rossi is that he starts ahead of Lorenzo and both Hondas start ahead of him, so even if he doesn't win the race he still stands to gain.

Cal Crutchlow will start a superb fifth after a great lap towards the end of the session saw him clamber onto the middle of the second row. The Honda has been working well, though has shown signs of its demons at several points. Scott Redding found that out in QP1 when he dropped out, only managing fifteenth.

Their compatriot, Bradley Smith, also had to go through QP1 but made it through with relative ease. The Tech 3 rider went on to put his YZR-M1 ninth, which is not bad considering Pol Espargaro did make it through to QP2 from FP3 and is only twelfth.

Both Ducati riders line up sixth and seventh respectively. Andrea Iannone has been quick all weekend and was two tenths faster than Dovizioso. Both GP15s could be a factor at the start of the race if they get a good launch, like we saw in Australia.

Maverick Vinales was unlucky to miss out on direct passage to QP2, but put in a great lap in the first session to go fastest. The soft rear tyre available to the Suzuki rider certainly played its part but, given that the Spaniard had no tow down the back straight into Turn Fifteen, this lap came down to Vinales' raw talent. He went onto qualify eighth. Team-mate Aleix Espargaro will start eleventh after a crash at turn six at the end of the session stopped him from further improving.

Hector Barbera ended the day as top Open class runner by a country mile after putting his Avintia Ducati tenth. This boosts the Spaniard's chance of extending his lead in the Open standings as his main rival, Loris Baz, is down in twentieth.

Stefan Bradl was an impressive fourteenth and only a tenth away from the Pramac Ducati of Danilo Petrucci. Jack Miller impressed in sixteenth and Damien Cudlin rounded out the field in twenty-fifth.

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix – The Grid:

1st Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 1:59.053

2nd Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, 1:59.462

3rd Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:59.726

4th Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1:59.737

5th Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda, 2:00.199

6th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team, 2:00.224

7th Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team, 2:00.423

8th Maverick Vinales, Suzuki Team Ecstar, 2:00.478

9th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 2:00.652

10th Hector Barbera, Avintia Ducati, 2:00.724

11th Aleix Espargaro, Suzuki Team Ecstar, 2:00.724