Malaysian MotoGP: Alex Marquez takes pole by 0.070s from brother Marc as Jorge Martin is ruled out

Alex Marquez took pole for the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang on Saturday with a lap of 1:56.493, just 0.070 seconds ahead of his brother Marc, while Marc's title rival Jorge Martin was ruled out with a broken wrist, ARY News reported. Pedro Acosta completed the front row, with Ai Ogura and Marco Bezzecchi close behind.

The front of the grid

The sprint race runs on Saturday and the full Grand Prix on Sunday 1 November. Malaysia is three hours ahead of Pakistan, so Sepang's afternoon sessions fall around midday PKT.

Why Martin is out

Martin arrived in Malaysia with a broken wrist. He rode in Friday's first practice but managed few laps after that and skipped qualifying. Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora said Martin could not put enough force through the bike under braking. He will go home to Spain to have the wrist assessed before next week's Qatar Grand Prix.

The title picture

Marc Marquez leads Martin by 10 points with three race weekends left after Malaysia. With Martin missing both the sprint and the Grand Prix, Marquez can open a gap of up to 37 points this weekend: 12 for a sprint win and 25 for a Grand Prix win. That would leave Martin needing to outscore him heavily in Qatar and the last two rounds, on a wrist that has not healed.

The biggest threat to Marc this weekend may be his younger brother: Alex has the pace to beat him, and every point Alex takes from a win caps Marc's gain.

For riders in Pakistan

Riders planning their own weekend on two wheels can compare running costs on our fuel cost calculator and the latest bike prices on our bike price list.