MotoGP 2022 – Round 19 – Sepang
Qualifying Report
On pole it’s Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) as the Spaniard set a new lap record and scorched round Sepang with the first – and only – 1:57 ever. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) is second but a whopping 0.456 back, with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) completing the front row. So where are the top two title contenders?
The drama began in the morning as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) failed to make it into Q2 and crashed. It continued for the Championship leader as he made it out of Q1 but then crashed again in Q2, rider ok but forced to settle for ninth on the grid. However…
For Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) it wasn’t an easy Saturday either. He crashed in FP4 and looked to be holding his hand, then heading to the Medical centre for a check up. He has a small fracture to a finger and is fit to continue, but with that added complication. He also suffered a big moment on his final effort in Q2, and the defending Champion will therefore start 12th.
Marquez had been following Bagnaia when the number 63 went down but completed his lap to take a front row, possibly in position to make Sunday afternoon’s fight for the crown even more interesting.
1 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – 1’57.790
2 Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP) – Ducati – +0.456
3 Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) – Honda – +0.664
Rookie of the Year Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) heads Row 2 ahead of Australian GP winner Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) after he had his best qualifying for some time, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) in sixth.
Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is the top Yamaha in seventh but has a double Long Lap penalty from earlier in the weekend to serve, and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) is down in eighth but top Aprilia – with team-mate and Championship challenger Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) down in P10. Bagnaia is the rider between the two…
2020 World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) slots in ahead of Quartararo, completing a top 12 that’s absolutely set to stun on Sunday.
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), meanwhile, crashed in Q1 and lost out to Marquez in moving through, so he’s in P14.
Jorge Martin – P1
“Phillip Island was great, also Austin. I mean, I’m normally making good laps and when I have the feeling, so the good thing is that the feeling is back. It’s important to finish the season like this. I thought somebody would improve on the second stint so I pushed a bit harder and it came well. I thought that maybe I was a bit on my limit, almost crashing at some points of the track, but anyway happy, happy, really happy. I feel like we have the pace for the win so I am super-happy about everything.”
2022 Sepang MotoGP Qualifying Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Q | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | Q2 | 1m57.790 |
| 2 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | Q2 | +0.456 |
| 3 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | Q2 | +0.664 |
| 4 | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | Q2 | +0.700 |
| 5 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | Q2 | +0.785 |
| 6 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | Q2 | +0.789 |
| 7 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | Q2 | +0.864 |
| 8 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | Q2 | +0.976 |
| 9 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | Q2 | +1.072 |
| 10 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | Q2 | +1.145 |
| 11 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | Q2 | +1.355 |
| 12 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | Q2 | +1.425 |
| 13 | Brad BINDER | KTM | Q1 | (*) 0.408 |
| 14 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | Q1 | (*) 0.419 |
| 15 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | YAMAHA | Q1 | (*) 0.611 |
| 16 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONI ITA | DUCATI | Q1 | (*) 0.633 |
| 17 | Pol ESPARGARO | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 0.718 |
| 18 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | Q1 | (*) 1.045 |
| 19 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | Q1 | (*) 1.054 |
| 20 | Remy GARDNER | KTM | Q1 | (*) 1.158 |
| 21 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 1.363 |
| 22 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | Q1 | (*) 1.432 |
| 23 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 2.158 |
| 24 | Darryn BINDER | YAMAHA | Q1 | *) 12.072 |
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | BAGNAIA Francesco | ITA | 233 |
| 2 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 219 |
| 3 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 206 |
| 4 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 191 |
| 5 | MILLER Jack | AUS | 179 |
| 6 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 160 |
| 7 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 159 |
| 8 | RINS Alex | SPA | 137 |
| 9 | MARTIN Jorge | SPA | 136 |
| 10 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | POR | 135 |
| 11 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 122 |
| 12 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 111 |
| 13 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 104 |
| 14 | BEZZECCHI Marco | ITA | 93 |
| 15 | MIR Joan | SPA | 77 |
| 16 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 54 |
| 17 | MARQUEZ Alex | SPA | 50 |
| 18 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 46 |
| 19 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 31 |
| 20 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | ITA | 23 |
| 21 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 15 |
| 22 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 12 |
| 23 | GARDNER Remy | AUS | 10 |
| 24 | FERNANDEZ Raul | SPA | 9 |
| 25 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | GBR | 6 |
| 26 | BRADL Stefan | GER | 2 |
| 27 | PIRRO Michele | ITA | 0 |
| 28 | SAVADORI Lorenzo | ITA | 0 |
| 29 | NAGASHIMA Tetsuta | JPN | 0 |
| 30 | PETRUCCI Danilo | ITA | 0 |
| 31 | WATANABE Kazuki | JPN | 0 |
Sepang Moto2 Qualifying
Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) laid down the gauntlet on Saturday at Sepang, taking pole position ahead of his first match point in the fight for the Championship.
1 Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) – Kalex – 2’06.405
2 Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – Kalex – +0.083
3 Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) – Kalex – +0.247
Title rival Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), after topping the timesheets on Friday by eight-tenths, could only manage sixth in qualifying and will be looking to move forward ASAP.
It’s Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) who complete the front row, with Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) just missing out.
Sepang Moto2 Qualifying Times
| Pos | Rider | Motorcycle | Q | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Ai OGURA | KALEX | Q2 | 2m06.405 |
| 2 | Tony ARBOLINO | KALEX | Q2 | +0.083 |
| 3 | Aron CANET | KALEX | Q2 | +0.247 |
| 4 | Jake DIXON | KALEX | Q2 | +0.296 |
| 5 | Manuel GONZALEZ | KALEX | Q2 | +0.300 |
| 6 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | KALEX | Q2 | +0.333 |
| 7 | Somkiat CHANTRA | KALEX | Q2 | +0.491 |
| 8 | Pedro ACOSTA | KALEX | Q2 | +0.529 |
| 9 | Cameron BEAUBIER | KALEX | Q2 | +0.545 |
| 10 | Alonso LOPEZ | BOSCOSCURO | Q2 | +0.547 |
| 11 | Joe ROBERTS | KALEX | Q2 | +0.606 |
| 12 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | KALEX | Q2 | +0.691 |
| 13 | Albert ARENAS | KALEX | Q2 | +0.776 |
| 14 | Marcel SCHROTTER | KALEX | Q2 | +0.798 |
| 15 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA ITA | KALEX | Q2 | +0.876 |
| 16 | Fermín ALDEGUER | BOSCOSCURO | Q2 | +1.130 |
| 17 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | KALEX | Q2 | +1.743 |
| 18 | Filip SALAC | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 0.067 |
| 19 | Jeremy ALCOBA | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 0.617 |
| 20 | Celestino VIETTI | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 0.649 |
| 21 | Marcos RAMIREZ | MV AGUSTA | Q1 | (*) 0.831 |
| 22 | Taiga HADA | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 0.993 |
| 23 | Keminth KUBO | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 1.086 |
| 24 | David SANCHIS | MV AGUSTA | Q1 | (*) 1.288 |
| 25 | Sean Dylan KELLY | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 1.378 |
| 26 | Borja GOMEZ | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 1.463 |
| 27 | Alessandro ZACCONE | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 1.624 |
| 28 | Azroy ANUAR | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 1.676 |
| 29 | Kasma DANIEL | KALEX | Q1 | (*) 2.579 |
Moto2 Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | OGURA Ai | JPN | 242 |
| 2 | FERNANDEZ Augusto | SPA | 238.5 |
| 3 | CANET Aron | SPA | 192 |
| 4 | VIETTI Celestino | ITA | 165 |
| 5 | ACOSTA Pedro | SPA | 152 |
| 6 | ARBOLINO Tony | ITA | 150.5 |
| 7 | DIXON Jake | GBR | 143.5 |
| 8 | LOPEZ Alonso | SPA | 135.5 |
| 9 | ROBERTS Joe | USA | 130 |
| 10 | CHANTRA Somkiat | THA | 128 |
| 11 | SCHROTTER Marcel | GER | 107.5 |
| 12 | NAVARRO Jorge | SPA | 83 |
| 13 | BENDSNEYDER Bo | NED | 80 |
| 14 | ARENAS Albert | SPA | 76 |
| 15 | BEAUBIER Cameron | USA | 64 |
| 16 | ALDEGUER Fermín | SPA | 61 |
| 17 | ALCOBA Jeremy | SPA | 57 |
| 18 | LOWES Sam | GBR | 55 |
| 19 | GONZALEZ Manuel | SPA | 55 |
| 20 | SALAC Filip | CZE | 37 |
| 21 | BALTUS Barry | BEL | 30 |
| 22 | DALLA PORTA Lorenzo | ITA | 15 |
| 23 | MANZI Stefano | ITA | 9 |
| 24 | ZACCONE Alessandro | ITA | 9 |
| 25 | KUBO Keminth | THA | 7.5 |
| 26 | FENATI Romano | ITA | 7 |
| 27 | RODRIGO Gabriel | ARG | 6 |
| 28 | KELLY Sean Dylan | USA | 5.5 |
| 29 | RAMIREZ Marcos | SPA | 5 |
| 30 | HADA Taiga | JPN | 2.5 |
| 31 | PASINI Mattia | ITA | 1 |
| 32 | VD GOORBERGH Zonta | NED | 0 |
| 33 | CORSI Simone | ITA | 0 |
| 34 | AGIUS Senna | AUS | 0 |
| 35 | ANTONELLI Niccolò | ITA | 0 |
| 36 | SKINNER Rory | GBR | 0 |
| 37 | TOLEDO Alex | SPA | 0 |
| 38 | BIESIEKIRSKI Piotr | POL | 0 |
Sepang Moto3 Qualifying Report
Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) put in a last charge for pole and set a new lap record to head the grid for Sunday’s pivotal showdown in the fight to take second overall. He has now-reigning Champion Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) alongside him, with Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team), who is currently two points ahead of Foggia, locking out the front row.
After proving incredibly fast on Friday and sitting on provisional pole for much of Q2, Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) was ultimately shuffled down to seventh on the grid, heading the third row.
1 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – Honda – 2’11.411
2 Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) – GASGAS – +0.224
3 Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) – GASGAS – +0.263
The second row is Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), with Sasaki heading Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse).
David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) heads up the next row and completes the top ten.
Joel Kelso found some pace late in the day and will start from P16.
Sepang Moto3 Qualifying Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Q | Gap |
| 1 | Dennis FOGGIA | HONDA | Q2 | 2m11.411 |
| 2 | Izan GUEVARA | GASGAS | Q2 | +0.224 |
| 3 | Sergio GARCIA | GASGAS | Q2 | +0.263 |
| 4 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | Q2 | +0.340 |
| 5 | Daniel HOLGADO | KTM | Q2 | +0.425 |
| 6 | Andrea MIGNO | HONDA | Q2 | +0.432 |
| 7 | Ayumu SASAKI | HUSQVARNA | Q2 | +0.496 |
| 8 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | HONDA | Q2 | +0.523 |
| 9 | Riccardo ROSSI | HONDA | Q2 | +0.549 |
| 10 | David MUÑOZ | KTM | Q2 | +0.640 |
| 11 | Diogo MOREIRA | KTM | Q2 | +0.725 |
| 12 | Stefano NEPA | KTM | Q2 | +0.992 |
| 13 | Ryusei YAMANAKA | KTM | Q2 | +1.021 |
| 14 | Ivan ORTOLÁ | KTM | Q2 | +1.030 |
| 15 | Taiyo FURUSATO | HONDA | Q2 | +1.106 |
| 16 | Joel KELSO | KTM | Q2 | +1.201 |
| 17 | Carlos TATAY | CFMOTO | Q2 | +1.951 |
| 18 | Kaito TOBA | KTM | Q2 | +2.251 |
| 19 | Adrian FERNANDEZ | KTM | Q1 | (*) 0.277 |
| 20 | Xavier ARTIGAS | CFMOTO | Q1 | (*) 0.312 |
| 21 | Syarifuddin AZMAN | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 0.459 |
| 22 | John MCPHEE | HUSQVARNA | Q1 | (*) 0.608 |
| 23 | Nicola Fabio CARRARO ITA | KTM | Q1 | (*) 0.609 |
| 24 | Elia BARTOLINI | KTM | Q1 | (*) 0.771 |
| 25 | Deniz ÖNCÜ | KTM | Q1 | (*) 0.812 |
| 26 | Alberto SURRA | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 0.839 |
| 27 | Lorenzo FELLON | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 0.953 |
| 28 | Ana CARRASCO | KTM | Q1 | (*) 1.399 |
| 29 | Mario AJI | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 1.628 |
| 30 | Scott OGDEN | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 2.170 |
| 31 | Joshua WHATLEY | HONDA | Q1 | (*) 2.387 |
Moto3 Championship Points Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | GUEVARA Izan | SPA | 290 |
| 2 | GARCIA Sergio | SPA | 225 |
| 3 | FOGGIA Dennis | ITA | 223 |
| 4 | SASAKI Ayumu | JPN | 207 |
| 5 | ÖNCÜ Deniz | TUR | 174 |
| 6 | MASIA Jaume | SPA | 164 |
| 7 | SUZUKI Tatsuki | JPN | 128 |
| 8 | MIGNO Andrea | ITA | 100 |
| 9 | MOREIRA Diogo | BRA | 93 |
| 10 | HOLGADO Daniel | SPA | 88 |
| 11 | ROSSI Riccardo | ITA | 87 |
| 12 | MUÑOZ David | SPA | 84 |
| 13 | TATAY Carlos | SPA | 84 |
| 14 | YAMANAKA Ryusei | JPN | 79 |
| 15 | ARTIGAS Xavier | SPA | 78 |
| 16 | MCPHEE John | GBR | 72 |
| 17 | NEPA Stefano | ITA | 64 |
| 18 | TOBA Kaito | JPN | 63 |
| 19 | ORTOLÁ Ivan | SPA | 62 |
| 20 | FERNANDEZ Adrian | SPA | 40 |
| 21 | KELSO Joel | AUS | 36 |
| 22 | BARTOLINI Elia | ITA | 24 |
| 23 | OGDEN Scott | GBR | 21 |
| 24 | BERTELLE Matteo | ITA | 16 |
| 25 | FELLON Lorenzo | FRA | 11 |
| 26 | AJI Mario | INA | 5 |
| 27 | FURUSATO Taiyo | JPN | 2 |
| 28 | SURRA Alberto | ITA | 0 |
| 29 | CARRASCO Ana | SPA | 0 |
| 30 | SALVADOR David | SPA | 0 |
| 31 | AZMAN Syarifuddin | MAL | 0 |
| 32 | PEREZ Vicente | SPA | 0 |
| 33 | LUNETTA Luca | ITA | 0 |
| 34 | WHATLEY Joshua | GBR | 0 |
| 35 | RIU MALE Gerard | SPA | 0 |
| 36 | CARRARO Nicola Fabio | ITA | 0 |
| 37 | RUEDA José Antonio | SPA | 0 |
| 38 | GARCIA Marc | SPA | 0 |
| 39 | VOIGHT Harrison | AUS | 0 |
| 40 | MOROSI Alessandro | ITA | 0 |
| 41 | HERRERA Maria | SPA | 0 |
| 42 | ALONSO David | COL | 0 |
2022 Sepang MotoGP Time Schedule
(AEDT)
| Sunday | ||
| Time | Class | Session |
| 1300 | Moto3 | WUP |
| 1320 | Moto2 | WUP |
| 1340 | MotoGP | WUP |
| 1500 | Moto3 | Race |
| 1620 | Moto2 | Race |
| 1800 | MotoGP | Race |
2022 MotoGP Calendar
| Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 23 October | Malaysia | Sepang International Circuit |
| 06 November | Comunitat Valenciana | Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo |
