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Bagnaia seals third Malaysian MotoGP pole in a row / Photo: © AFP
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Bagnaia seals third Malaysian MotoGP pole in a row
Italian Francesco Bagnaia claimed pole position at the Malaysian MotoGP after the Ducati ace clocked the fastest qualifying time ahead of Spaniard Alex Marquez on Saturday.
The 28-year-old two-time world champion topped the timesheets with 1min 57.001sec to secure a third consecutive pole at Sepang.
Bagnaia had earlier finished in the top two of the first qualifiers to contend for pole just minutes later, which he successfully secured for his third pole of 2025.
Marquez will be optimistic of his chances of sealing the runner-up prize in the overall standings with the Ducati-Gresini rider starting second on the grid after clocking 1:57.017.
Italy's Franco Morbidelli will assume third place for the sprint and Sunday's main event after his lap of 1:57.159, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, who briefly topped the timesheets.
KTM stalwart Pedro Acosta completes the top five despite a crash.
Bagnaia will be pleased with his overall performance to secure pole, despite not coming close to outdoing his lap record set last year.
The Ducati rider had clocked 1:56.337 at the Sepang track last year on his way to winning the 2024 Malaysian GP.
This year's Sepang spectacle is without newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with injury.
E. Carvalho--JDB
