Bagnaia Shatters Lap Time Record Again To Claim Pole Position In Sepang

SEPANG, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Defending world champion, Francesco Bagnaia has obliterated an all-lap time record in Sepang International Circuit (SIC), here, to grab pole position in the 2024 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, today.

In a thrilling conclusion to today’s qualifying round, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider, who was trailing in second place behind current championship leader Jorge Martin of Prima Pramac Racing, seized the final lap to shatter his own all-time lap record of 1 minute 57.491 seconds from last year, with a new mark of 1:56.337 seconds.

Martin, on the other hand, will begin the race tomorrow in second spot with 1:56.553 and will be joined by Alex Marquez from Gresini Racing MotoGP with 1:57.275s for the prime spot on the grid.

In addition to tomorrow's full race, today's results saw all riders secure their positions on the grid for the sprint race slated to be held later today.

The sprint race, introduced for the first time in the premier class last season, consists of half the number of laps compared to tomorrow's race.

It also awards championship points differently from the full race, with 12 points to the winner, going all the way down to one point for the top nine finishers.

In Moto2 action, Jorge Navarro from OnlyFans American Racing Team will start the race tomorrow in the lead position as he recorded the fastest lap in Qualifying 2 at 2:04.412s, leaving Marcos Ramirez of OnlyFans American Racing Team in the second position (2:04.475s) while Celestino Vietti of Red Bull KTM Ajo took the third place (2:04.559s).

The two local wildcard riders representing Petronas MIE Racing RW, Muhammad Helmi Azman and Khairul Idham Pawi were involved in a crashed at turn 8 and ended the qualifying round 1 in the 15th (2:07.554s) and 16th  (2:07.570s) position. 

Muhammad Helmi and Khairul Idham will start the race in the 29th and 30th place tomorrow. 

In the meantime, Moto3 action saw, Adrian Fernandez of Leopard Racing coming out fastest after clocking 2:09.542s and will lead the race tomorrow followed by Ivan Ortola of MT Helmets - MSI in the second position (2:09.895s) and David Alonso of CFMOTO Aspar Team secured the third spot (2:10.015s).

-- BERNAMA