Alex Marquez takes Malaysian MotoGP pole ahead of Marc Marquez
Pedro Acosta qualified third at Sepang, with Ai Ogura and Marco Bezzecchi completing the top five.
A lap of 01:56.493 put Alex Marquez on pole for the 2026 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang on 31 October. His decisive effort came in the final part of qualifying and pushed his brother Marc Marquez into second place.
Alex had led the early running with 01:56.697, ahead of Marc and Pedro Acosta. Enea Bastianini initially held fourth, followed by Marco Bezzecchi. The riders returned to the pits after eight minutes before heading out for their later attempts.
Ai Ogura then moved ahead of both Marquez brothers with 01:56.617, with Bezzecchi behind him. Marc subsequently took the lead on 01:56.563, while Acosta slotted in 0.014 seconds behind. Alex's final improvement left Acosta third, Ogura fourth and Bezzecchi fifth.
Earlier, Johann Zarco topped the first qualifying session with 01:57.34, followed by Francesco Bagnaia, sending both riders through to Q2. Zarco finished eighth in the final qualifying order, while Bagnaia was 10th.
