MotoGP champ Marquez tops qualifying in Malaysia, but will start from 7th after penalty

He was penalised six places and will start just three spots above his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who finished 10th clocking 2.14.443.

Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez took the pole position but will start from the seventh position after he was penalised for impeding Andrea Iannone during the rain-hit qualifying of the Malaysian Grand Prix here Saturday.

Marquez produced the fastest lap of 2.12.161 in the opening lap itself before crashing at turn 4 in the second lap.

He recovered quickly and returned to the track on his second bike but impeded Iannone at the turn 9, compromising the Italian rider on the corner entry.

He was penalised six places and will start just three spots above his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who finished 10th clocking 2.14.443.

"I think that being able to quickly adapt to sudden changes in track conditions is one of my strong points. Today I took advantage of that, even if, honestly, it wasn’t easy," said Marquez.

"It was the first time this weekend we rode in the wet, and we even crashed. But the feeling was there and we achieved the pole position, which is a good feeling even if we’ll ultimately start from the third row."

Pedrosa, on the other hand, struggled in the rain.

"Today we made a little step forward on the dry but still not enough to stay in the group who can fight for the victory. Then I struggled a lot in the wet with both medium and soft spec of tyres. I could not find any grip," said Pedrosa.

"That means that tomorrow we will start again from back on the grid and of course this is not good. We will see what the conditions will be at race time and what we can do form the start."

Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco will now start at pole, while Valentino Rossi and Iannone will be second and third on the grid. Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci will start from row two.

(With inputs from agencies.)