MotoGP leader Francesco Bagnaia will start Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix from ninth after crashing out, while Spaniard Jorge Martin won pole position with the quickest lap ever at Sepang.
Fabio Quartararo, Ducati rider Bagnaia’s championship adversary and title holder, qualified for Yamaha on Saturday in only 12th place.
Martin of Prima Pramac won pole position with a blistering time of one minute and 57.790 seconds. Enea Bastianini was second, 0.45 seconds behind, while Marc Marquez, a six-time world champion, completed the top three.
Martin also broke the nine-year Phillip Island record to earn pole position in Australia last weekend.
Bagnaia, who has a chance to win the championship on Sunday, was more than a second off the pace and was involved in a second accident on a disastrous day for the Italian.
He was eliminated in the third practice session, but redeemed himself by finishing first in the first qualifying session.
The Italian, who was sixth in second qualifying at Sepang before crashing out on Turn 4 on a clear day, will have to settle with the third row.
Bagnaia leads Quartararo in the title standings by fourteen points.
He will win his first championship if he wins the race and Quartararo finishes outside the top three.
Otherwise, the championship will be decided in two weeks at the final race of the season in Valencia, Spain.