Johann Zarco put himself in position to wrap up his second Moto2 championship after taking a stunning pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Frenchman was in scintillating form, claiming pole by over two seconds from Franco Morbidelli on a drying track while title rivals Thomas Luthi and Alex Rins qualified fifth and 23rd respectively.
With the rain that had fallen prior to MotoGP qualifying now a thing of the past, conditions gradually improved as the session unfolded but the one constant was Zarco who figured at the top of the leaderboard throughout. At the halfway stage, the Ajo rider had lowered the benchmark to a 2:22.880 and although Jonas Folger usurped him shortly afterwards, Johann’s response was emphatic.
Once his next run was completed, Zarco was back on top with a 2:21.084 but conditions were just on the tipping point between wet and dry tyres. Morbidelli didn’t take the gamble on slicks but the Marc VDS rider still had enough grip from his wet rubber to go fastest, two tenths up on Zarco, but the defending champion produced an astonishing final run to finish the afternoon a full two seconds clear of anybody else.
Axel Pons left it late to grab third ahead of Folger while Luthi, who looked set to secure a front row spot late on, fell to fifth ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri who took a punt on a rear slick in the dying seconds. Xavier Simeon will start seventh ahead of Mattia Pasini and the impressive Remy Gardner while Simone Corsi completed the top ten on the Speed Up.
Moto2 Shell Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (Qualifying Result)
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