Alex Marquez Claims Malaysian GP Pole as Jorge Martin Withdraws

Jorge Martin's weekend at the Malaysian Grand Prix has ended before it could properly begin. The Aprilia star has been ruled out of the race at Sepang International Circuit because of a wrist fracture suffered in a sprint crash at the Australian Grand Prix.

Martin tried to make the comeback just six days after the injury. On Friday, he rode 12 laps in the morning session and added several more in the afternoon. He then came back to the pits early to prepare for Saturday, but he was unable to continue after further running in FP2 before qualifying.

MotoGP stated that Martin had made an exceptional effort to return. It confirmed that he will not race at the Malaysian Grand Prix and will try again at a later event.

On the track, Alex Marquez was the standout performer in qualifying. Riding the BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP machine, he clocked 1:56.493 to take pole position on Saturday morning. That was enough to beat his older brother Marc Marquez, the current championship leader, who was only 0.070 seconds slower in Q2.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Pedro Acosta qualified third, followed by Ai Ogura in fourth. Marco Bezzecchi, another driver in the title hunt, was behind them.

Heading into the event, Martin was 10 points adrift of Marc Marquez in the championship. He had been allowed to participate in Friday's morning session and was later cleared for the full weekend. However, he placed 20th in FP1 and 21st after the afternoon session.

With Martin out of both the sprint and Sunday's race, the title fight is increasingly moving beyond his grasp.