SEPANG – Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia looks set to bag his seventh title this season, as the frantic finale saw him grab pole position in the 2023 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit here today.
Not only that, Bagnaia, better known as “Pecco”, set the new all-time lap record of 1 minute, 57.491 seconds on the final lap of the qualifying two.
The Ducati Lenovo Team rider erased the previous mark held by his closest rival, Jorge Martin from Prima Pramac Racing, who did 1:57.790s last year.
Martin, who led the pack earlier, had to settle for second place with 1:57.549s while Pecco’s teammate, Enea Bastianini, joined the front row after clocking 1:57.590s.
Apart from tomorrow’s full race, today’s result also saw all riders secure the same positions on the grid for the sprint race, to be held later today.
The sprint race was introduced for the first time in the premier class this season and takes half the number of laps of tomorrow’s race.
It also offers championship points that will be awarded differently to the full race, with 12 points going to the winner and going all the way down to one point for the top nine finishers. – November 11, 2023