Pol Espargaró secures 6th pole position of the season

Pol Espargaró secured his 6th pole position of the year, bringing his career total to 11. He was the only one to break the 2.07 mark in Sepang and his lead over the second fastest, Brit Scott Redding, stands at almost half a second and the gap to championship leader Marc Marquéz was more than 6 tenths.

The sudden changes in weather, with the sudden rainfalls during second and third free practice, have led to Polyccio being on top from the beginning and dominating the session at the Malaysian circuit in impressive manner.
Tito Rabat had slight problems with the setup and in one corner of the circuit, which he was able to solve with the help of his mechanics and his team mate. In the end he qualified 7th and will start from the third row on the grid.

Axel Pons was less lucky. In the third lap of his second run out on the track he crashed just as he was putting in a time that would have seen him in a top ten qualifying position.

Pol Espargaró
It’s been a difficult qualifying session as we had to go out full throttle from the first minute on, because we didn’t know what the rain was going to do. We did some tests with the tyres and I quickly discarded one. Everey time I go out on track I give everything I have. Today was no exception and tomorrow won’t be either. I know that Marcis practically holding the title in his hands, but as long as it’s mathematically possible I will fight till the end and if he has to celebrate during these three races, it’s got to be Australia, as late as possible. The team has solved the setup problems that we had and I feel great on the bike. Tomorrow will be a tough race, but I will try to enjoy myself and fight for the win.

Tito Rabat
I want to thank the team for making this bike the way I like it and to Pol for helping me by telling me the secret of one corner that I was struggling with and where I lost much time. I improved a lot since yesterday, I am able to go fast on my own but then on the two long straights a good slipstream is important, and we only have to improve a little more, possibly during warm up, to be able to fight for the podium again like in Montegi. I will concentrate on a good start and give everything in the race.

Axel Pons
I made a mistake when I was riding really hard following Redding and I lost every opportunity to position myself within the top ten. I had improved my time a lot in that third lap and I’m convinced that I could have been a lot higher up, but I crashed and all I can do now is to start from far back and fight for points. The team has done a great job, the bike went well and it makes me confident for the race.

Source: Pons Racing