SEPANG, Nov 11 ― 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 (SIC) here, today.
Not only that, Bagnaia or better known as ‘Pecco’, got the job done in the last lap of the qualifying two session to set the new all-time lap record of one minute 57.491 seconds (s).
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 same positions on the grid for sprint race, to be held later today.
The sprint race was introduced for the first time in the premier class this season which takes half the amount of laps of tomorrow’s race.
It also offers championship points that will be awarded differently to the full race, with 12 points to the winner, going all the way down to one point for the top nine finishers. ― Bernama
