Bagnaia put on a brilliant final lap at the Sepang International Circuit to secure his first pole since the Catalan Grand Prix in September and beat last year’s pole-sitter Martin, who crashed in the final minutes of Q2 at turn four.

The 26-year-old Italian, chasing his second world crown, will be joined by his teammate Enea Bastianini and Martin on the front row tomorrow as he looks to increase the gap with his title rival, who trails by 13 points in the standings.

Gresini’s Alex Marquez will start in fourth after showing a promising pace throughout qualifying.

Marc Marquez’s qualifying ended painfully after the six-time MotoGP champion crashed in Q1 and will only start on 20th tomorrow. His Spanish compatriot Aleix Espargaro, who sits fifth in the championship, also missed out on a Q2 spot.