SEPANG: Dani Pedrosa took pole position with a perfect final lap as Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez's title hopes took a blow after crashing during qualifying at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix today.
Pedrosa clocked one minute and 59.212 seconds to top the timesheet with Johann Zarco of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 a close second on 1:59.229s.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso (1:59.236s) completed the front row, keeping his title chances alive as Marquez (1:59.694s) was forced to settle for seventh on the grid.
Marquez, who leads the championship standings with a 33 point advantage over second placed Dovizioso, crashed at the final turn on his first lap. He recovered and switched to his reserve bike but could not find the pace to challenge the top three.
Crowd favourite Valentino Rossi was fourth on 1:59.498s while Movistar Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales (1:59.538s) and Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo (1:59.622s) completed the second row.
Ends.
KEYWORDS: Dani Pedrosa, pole position, Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, Johann Zarco, Andrea Dovizioso