Malaysian MotoGP: Vinales fastest, Crutchlow crashes into Q1

Suzuki's Vinales and Marc Marquez on his Repsol Honda sparred over top spot throughout the 45-minute session, Vinales ultimately coming out on top after becoming the only man under two minutes when he set a 1m59.947s on the first lap of his final run. He then backed it up with a 1m59.979s on the final lap of that run to ensure he had two times good enough for P1.

Marquez, battling gastroenteritis since yesterday, split his running over four stints. It was on the third stint that he finally improved on his best Friday time, going top with a 2m00.584s. He then had a crack at Vinales’s time right at the flag, falling just under a tenth short with a 2m00.032s.

Jorge Lorenzo edged Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi for third spot, both riders improving on their last runs to finish up with a 2m00.043s and a 2m00.107s respectively.

Hector Barbera was impressive on the Avintia Ducati, comfortably banking a Q2 spot with a 2m00.384s, which was good enough to beat Andrea Iannone on the works Ducati by 0.011s.

The second Suzuki of Aleix Espargaro dropped down to seventh having been quickest with eight minutes to go, while Andrea Dovizioso made sure both works Ducatis snuck straight into Q2 with a 2m00.723s.

Pol Espargaro (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Alvaro Bautista (April) rounded out those with an automatic Q2 spot, while Scott Redding just missed out after not improving on his Friday time until his final run.

For the second race in a row, Phillip Island winner Crutchlow will have to come through Q1. The LCR Honda rider spent the majority of the session lapping on the hard compound rear tyre, before switching to the medium for his last run as he looked to bank a Q2 spot.

But a tumble from his LCR Honda at Turn 7 on his final lap put paid to that, the Briton now needing to go through Q1 after ending up down in P13.

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	Maverick Viñales	Suzuki	1'59.947
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	2'00.032	0.085
3	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	2'00.043	0.096
4	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	2'00.107	0.160
5	Hector Barbera	Ducati	2'00.384	0.437
6	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	2'00.395	0.448
7	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki	2'00.483	0.536
8	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	2'00.723	0.776
9	Pol Espargaro	Yamaha	2'01.072	1.125
10	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia	2'01.078	1.131
11	Scott Redding	Ducati	2'01.115	1.168
12	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	2'01.167	1.220
13	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	2'01.213	1.266
14	Bradley Smith	Yamaha	2'01.255	1.308
15	Eugene Laverty	Ducati	2'01.319	1.372
16	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia	2'01.352	1.405
17	Jack Miller	Honda	2'01.716	1.769
18	Yonny Hernandez	Ducati	2'02.197	2.250
19	Tito Rabat	Honda	2'02.237	2.290
20	Loris Baz	Ducati	2'02.729	2.782
21	Hiroshi Aoyama	Ducati	2'02.830	2.883