Luthi takes pole in Malaysia

The Swiss rider of Interwetten Paddock Moto2 has achieved his first pole position of his life in Moto2 at the Sepang circuit with a time of 2:07.512, beating Stefan Bradl a few minutes before the end, after the German had dominated much of the session.

The German rider is ready to take advantage of the “match-ball” that has come his way after Márquez’s fall and injury. He knows he must win tomorrow no matter what, and hope that Marc does not finish beyond 14th place to be crowned world champion.

That was the main news, since Marc is not at all ready to race. His fall in FP1, where he found rain and none of the marshals at that corner 10 displayed a warning flag, has left him with a severe pain in his neck, as well as bruises and contusions. Nevertheless, he completed a lap to set a time that will allow him to start tomorrow’s race.

Ricky Cardús had it worse. After the tremendous crash he suffered yesterday, he fractured his left wrist and has also injured a foot. He is returning to Barcelona for tests, since apparently they don’t trust the Malaysian X-rays very much…

Behind Luthi and Bradl is Pirro, who with the Moriwaki of the Gresini team has managed to close out the front row, just ahead of his teammate Takahashi. The second row will be occupied by the Espargaró brothers, this time with Polyccio beating Aleix.

The rest of the Spanish riders have all placed well back, with only Rabat managing to finish among the top 15, in 12th place. Joan Olivé was 21st, Pons 25th, Torres 27th, Kenny 30th, Iván Moreno 32nd and Marc Márquez 36th, second to last.

Photos | motogp.com