World Champion Marc Márquez set the fastest ever MotoGP lap of Sepang as he stormed to a record-breaking 13th pole position of the season at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Márquez’s time of 1:59.791 ensured that he beat Mick Doohan’s record of poles in one year as air temperature reached 35°c, with track temperatures some 20 degrees higher.

Dani Pedrosa made it was a Honda 1-2 as he was the only other rider to set a sub-two minute time and ended the session 0.182s slower than his team-mate.

Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was four-tenths back in third place while Stefan Bradl was fourth after following Márquez on his pole lap and picking up a tow.

Andrea Dovizioso placed fifth for Ducati, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Aleix Espargaró.

Cal Crutchlow beat compatriot Bradley Smith to eighth place on the grid while Álvaro Bautista was a lonely 10th.

Hiroshi Aoyama progressed through from Q1 but suffered a crash on his first flying lap at Turn 6 and recovered to set a time, albeit 10 seconds off the pace.

Pol Espargaró holds a provisional 12th place on the grid after setting a fast enough practice time for Q2, but he did not participate in qualifying after an enormous accident in third practice.

A piece of glass punctured the radiator on his Tech 3 bike and he had a violent high-side at Turn 1, with his machine catching fire as it came to a rest. Espargaró sustained a broken foot but is hopeful of being able to start the race.

Yonny Hernández was third quickest in Q1 and will consequently start from 13th position, ahead of Nicky Hayden and Karel Abraham.

Héctor Barberá secured 16th place, closely followed by Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis. Danilo Petrucci, Michael Laverty, Mike di Meglio and Broc Parkes rounded out the field.

Andrea Iannone will miss the race after sustaining a severe contusion to his left arm following a Friday practice crash, allied to his continued hip pain he received when he fell in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.