Malaysian MotoGP race day

Warm-up lap underway. Everybody with the exception of Jack Miller is using a soft rear tyre, the Australian is going with the medium.

Both Honda and Ducati have to field their test riders, but neither of them are likely to mix things up at the front. Michele Pirro missed both FP1 and FP2 as Lorenzo was trying to make things work on Friday, and qualified 14th. Stefan Bradl is riding Cal Crutchlow's LCR machinery but was only faster than three other riders, and starts 20th.
Jordi Torres meanwhile injured his hand in an FP4 crash and is out of action, potentially giving the Avintia squad more headaches if neither Tito Rabat nor Torres are fit for the Valencia finale.

If Rossi doesn't outscore Dovizioso today, the Ducati man will secure the runner-up position in the championship.

As qualifying was red-flagged, MotoGP decided to bring the race forward by two hours to avoid a similar scenario on Sunday. The decision was backed by riders and is proving to be correct as the weather looks good at the moment.

Sepang MotoGP race brought forward due to rain threat

The Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix schedule for Sunday has been revised to counter the threat of rain, with the MotoGP race brought forward by two hours.

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There is more controversy coming from the Ducati camp, as Dovizioso was asked to give his opinion on Lorenzo's current struggles to return to racing, which did not go down well with the Honda-bound Spaniard.

Lorenzo attacks Dovizioso for 'strange' absence comments

Jorge Lorenzo has gone on a social media onslaught against Ducati MotoGP teammate Andrea Dovizioso over the Italian's remarks to the press about Lorenzo's withdrawal from the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Zarco is joined by Valentino Rossi and Iannone on the front row as the resurgence of both Yamaha and Suzuki continues. Unfortunately to Yamaha, Maverick Vinales, who seemed to be the team's strongest rider of the weekend, was the one unable adapt to the rain in qualifying and he will start only 11th.
Suzuki faces a similar conundrum as Alex Rins has been its stronger rider, but he only starts eighth.
The second row is filled with three Ducatis in the order of Andrea Dovizioso, Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci, while the top Honda, Marquez, is only on row three.

The race follows a dramatic qualifying session on Saturday. Some good old Malaysian monsoon delayed the action by nearly one and a half hours and although Marc Marquez adapted to the conditions perfectly and took pole position in style, he was hit with a six-place grid penalty for impeding Andrea Iannone.
All of this left Johann Zarco first. The Frenchman will start a MotoGP race from pole position for the fifth time - as remarkable as that number is, it's even more shocking that he hasn't been able to finish higher than eighth in these races.  

Marquez handed hefty grid penalty for blocking Iannone

Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco will line up first on the grid for the Sepang MotoGP race after poleman Marc Marquez was penalised for impeding Andrea Iannone.

Welcome to the live coverage of the penultimate round of the 2018 MotoGP season, the Malaysian Grand Prix.