Moto2 Malaysia: Morbidelli pole, Luthi hurt
Franco Morbidelli put the hammer down at the beginning of the session when the track was at its best to dominate for pole position for the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
The EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider set his best lap of 2m 06.406s early in the session and with several falls coming at the hot and humid circuit in the final minutes, most notably for himself and his only remaining rival for the title, Tom Luthi, he remained unchallenged at the top of the timesheets.
Morbidelli was able to return to track for a final run, but Luthi’s spinning fall left the already injured and sore Swiss rider leave the track on a stretcher and heading to the medical centre for a check up.
Miguel Oliveira made the most progress towards the pole time, the Motegi winner chipping away to finish just 0.026s behind the Italian for second on the grid for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
The final front row spot went to rookie Fabio Quartararo, thanks to the Pons HP40 rider putting in a fantastic final flying lap. It is the French riders best qualifying performance since moving up to Moto2.
Alex Marquez was the early session leader but will start fourth on the second Marc VDS entry, with Carxpert Interwetten rider Luthi hopefully fit enough to line up in fifth.
The seasons top rookie Francesco Bagnaia looked frustrated as he felt he had more but could only manage sixth for the Sky Racing VR46 Team, though he did enough to keep Dynavolt’s Marcel Schrotter in seventh.
Eighth on the grid will be filled by Brad Binder on the second Red Bull entry, with Taka Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) ninth and Mattia Pasini (Italtrans) completing the top ten despite two falls, the second of which ruined his bike and ended his session early.
There were also crashes for Isaac Vinales and Lorenzo Baldassarri at the end, hurting their progress and leaving the 15th and 20th respectively.
Home rider Khairul Idham Pawi (Idemitsu) also took a tumble as he pushed hard, he will start 23rd. Fellow Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) fared far better and only just missed out on a top ten start in eleventh.
The replacement riders are at the back of the grid with Dimas Ekky Pratama (in for Jorge Navarro at Gresini) 28th, but ahead of the more experienced Alex De Angelis ( in for Xavier Simeon at Tasca Racing) in 29th.
Both Dominique Aegerter and Tarran Mackenzie were withdrawn from the race weekend after the sudden death of team boss Stefan Kiefer in Malaysia.
