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Alex Marquez Snatches Pole from Marc Marquez by 0.070s, Martin Out of Malaysian GP

Published

1 hour ago

October 31, 2026

Alex Marquez, number 73, riding his blue BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP bike at Sepang during qualifying for the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia

The #73 leads the #93, Acosta third and Bezzecchi fifth as Martin calls time on his heroic Sepang comeback.

After a stunner in Q2, it’s Alex Marquez who will start from pole position at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia after the BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP lands a glorious 1:56.493 to snatch Saturday morning P1 honours away from World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team). The gap between the top two in a blistering Q2 was a mere 0.070s, while only a further 0.014s in arrears is third-place Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

It wasn’t the morning Aprilia Racing were searching for in Malaysia, though. The headline news is that heroic Jorge Martin has withdrawn from the remainder of the weekend, with title-chasing Marco Bezzecchi fifth on the grid at Petronas Sepang International Circuit.

Q1: Martin withdraws, Zarco & Pecco progress

Ahead of qualifying getting underway in Sepang, the breaking news was Martin’s withdrawal. A week after fracturing his wrist in the Phillip Island Sprint, the rider second in the championship chase, after displaying an unreal dose of grit, determination and bravery to give it a go in Malaysia, sadly couldn’t continue for the remainder of the weekend. A herculean effort to be out there, but the discomfort was simply too much for the 2024 World Champion.

On track, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) occupied the top two promotion spots in Q1 heading into the closing minutes. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) wasn’t far away from knocking his compatriot out, 0.071s the gap splitting the Italians, but Zarco and Pecco did enough to gain entry to the pole position scrap in Sepang.

Q2: 0.175s covers top five as Alex Marquez leaves it late

Kicking off the second part of qualifying fastest was Alex Marquez as the first pair of 1:56 lap times were dropped by last year’s Malaysia GP winner and the reigning World Champion, Marc Marquez. A 1:56.697 was Alex’s mighty opening attempt, one that was 0.267s better than the #93’s effort.

A pair of KTMs were an early P3 and P4 in the form of Acosta and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), with Aprilia Racing’s remaining on-track star this weekend, Marco Bezzecchi, provisionally P5 on the starting grid.

Pecco’s first flyer saw last year’s Sepang polesitter go P6 before a mistake at Turn 1 saw the Italian break his screen in frustration, but there was anything but frustration in the Aprilia ranks as Bezzecchi, and then Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), exchanged lap times good enough for pole.

Not for long though. Cue the jaws music. The championship leader was setting red sector times and despite getting a little out of shape into Turn 14, Marc Marquez jumped back ahead of the Aprilia duo to go P1. And right behind his 2027 teammate was Acosta, who climbed to P2.

However, Alex Marquez wasn’t done. And sure enough, the younger Marquez denied his brother to snatch a late Malaysian GP pole position by just 0.070s. That was all she wrote, meaning a first Saturday morning P1 was pocketed for the first time since the 2025 Catalan GP.

Marc Marquez in red Ducati Lenovo Team leathers and a red helmet giving two thumbs up after qualifying at Sepang for the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia

THE GRID

What a bumper front row that is. Marquez leads Marquez, blue leads red, Alex leads Marc, with Acosta only 0.084s away from pole position on the outside of the front row.

The Sepang qualifying front row at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia: Marc Marquez in red Ducati Lenovo leathers, polesitter Alex Marquez in blue BK8 Gresini leathers in the centre, and Pedro Acosta in Red Bull KTM leathers, holding their helmets

Ogura fronts the second row ahead of Bezzecchi, who in the end settles for P5 ahead of a monumental weekend in the championship chase. Can Bez chip away at the 50-point deficit to Marc Marquez, with teammate Martin sidelined? We’ll find out soon enough.

Completing the second row in P6 is Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), while Bastianini spearheads Row 3 in P7. Zarco and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) join ‘The Beast’ in P8 and P9 respectively, as Pecco is forced to start from P10 after navigating through Q1. The returning Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) will launch from P11 at the venue where he picked up his latest podium in 2025, while Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) goes from P12 as he continues to battle through the shoulder pain barrier.

STRAP IN: IT’S SPRINT TIME IN SEPANG

Opportunity knocks for Ducati and Marc Marquez in the absence of Martin, as Bezzecchi and Aprilia hunt big points — beginning with the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 local time (UTC +8).

We Speak Cars & Racing

Kyle Larson Can Clinch the Cup Championship at Martinsville in Sunday’s Xfinity 500

Published

7 hours ago

October 30, 2026

We Speak Media

Kyle Larson celebrates with crew chief Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 team after winning the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 25, 2026.

A NASCAR Cup Series championship can be won at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, a week before the season even ends.

Kyle Larson takes a 73 point lead into the Xfinity 500, the penultimate race of the season, Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Under the Chase format, where all 16 drivers run every race and the points decide the title, Larson’s math is simple. A maximum points day is worth 76. If Larson scores 59 points on Sunday, or gains just four points on the field, he clinches his third Cup championship before the finale, something no driver has ever done in the Chase era.

He would also become the first driver to win back to back Cup titles since Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006 to 2010. Larson is the defending champion.

How He Built the Lead

Larson did not win a single race in the regular season. He has won three of the eight Chase races since.

The biggest came last Sunday at Talladega, the first drafting track win of his career. Larson gained 10 spots on the final lap, beat his teammate William Byron to the line by 0.041 seconds, and collected 71 of a possible 76 points on the day, blowing his lead open from five points to 73 in one afternoon while nine of the drivers chasing him were caught in incidents.

The Paperclip Loves Him Back

If there is a track where Larson would choose to close this out, it might be this one. His 4.4 average finish at Martinsville since the start of 2023 is the best of any driver in the series. He won there in the spring of 2023 and has finished in the top 10 in his last eight Martinsville starts.

His team owns the place, too. Hendrick Motorsports has 31 wins at Martinsville, the most by any organization at any track in NASCAR history, including Chase Elliott’s win there this past spring and Byron’s win in this race last fall, when he led 304 of the 500 laps from the pole.

The Men Who Need a Miracle

Denny Hamlin sits second, 73 points back, with Christopher Bell 74 back and Chase Briscoe 79 back. Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney are 100 and 107 points behind, and Tyler Reddick is 126 back. For any of them, it starts with winning Sunday and hoping for a Larson disaster.

Hamlin is the one to watch. He is the most successful active driver at Martinsville with six wins, and he led a race high 292 laps there in the spring before finishing second to Elliott. Bell won at Martinsville in 2022 and has four top 10s in his last six starts at the track.

Larson is not interested in the math talk. “There’s still two races,” he said after Talladega. “It’s so easy to look at it and be like, oh, the 5’s got it. We could go to Martinsville, there’s a stack up in turn three on the first lap. I could cave in the radiator and be done.” His crew chief Cliff Daniels says the No. 5 will stay on offense and race to win, not to protect points.

How to Watch

The Xfinity 500 runs Sunday, November 1 at Martinsville Speedway, 500 laps and 263 miles, live at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Cup practice is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET with qualifying at 2:05 p.m. ET, both on truTV. If Larson does not close it out Sunday, the championship is settled next Sunday, November 8, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.