Alex Marquez will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session.

The Gresini rider is chasing back-to-back MotoGP wins at Sepang following his triumph in the 2025 edition of the row.

He will be joined on the front row of the grid by elder brother and factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez, who now holds a 19-point lead in the championship.

His nearest title rival Jorge Martin attempted to race in Sepang but was eventually forced to withdraw from the weekend before qualifying. The Spaniard has returned home to undergo treatment with the aim of returning in next weekend’s Qatar GP.

Joining the Marquez brothers on the front row of the grid will be KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who secured his second career sprint win at Sepang on Saturday.

Ai Ogura will lead Aprilia’s depleted line-up in fourth, just ahead of factory rider Marco Bezzecchi. VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio will complete the second row.

Enea Bastianini will take the start from seventh, ahead of Honda’s top runner Johann Zarco.

Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia will line up ninth and 10th respectively.

Only 20 riders will take part in the Malaysian GP, with Raul Fernandez joining Martin in the list of absentees. Like Martin, Fernandez also travelled to Sepang following his injury, but pulled out of the weekend after less than a handful of laps on Friday.

Fermin Aldeguer and Toprak Razgatlioglu are also skipping the race, but their respective teams Gresini and Pramac are fielding replacement riders (Iker Lecuona and Augusto Fernandez).

MotoGP Malaysian GP – Full starting grid:

 Cla 
 Nº 
 Rider 
 Bike 
 Time 
Gap

1
73 
Alex Márquez
Ducati
1’56.493
–

2
93 
Marc Márquez
Ducati
1’56.563
0.070

3
37 
Pedro Acosta
KTM
1’56.577
0.084

4
79 
Ai Ogura
Aprilia
1’56.617
0.124

5
72 
Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia
1’56.668
0.175

6
49 
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Ducati
1’56.842
0.349

7
23 
Enea Bastianini
KTM
1’56.970
0.477

8
5 
Johann Zarco
Honda
1’57.016
0.523

9
21 
Franco Morbidelli
Ducati
1’57.268
0.775

10
63 
Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati
1’57.287
0.794

11
36 
Joan Mir
Honda
1’57.343
0.850

12
12 
Maverick Viñales
KTM
1’57.737
1.244

13
10 
Luca Marini
Honda
1’57.623
1.130

14
11 
Diogo Moreira
Honda
1’57.733
1.240

15
33 
Brad Binder
KTM
1’58.127
1.634

16
43 
Jack Miller
Yamaha
1’58.148
1.655

17
42 
Alex Rins
Yamaha
1’58.155
1.662

18
20 
Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha
1’58.219
1.726

19
27 
Iker Lecuona
Ducati
1’58.456
1.963

20
47 
Augusto Fernández
Yamaha
1’58.855
2.362

 

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