Marquez grabs pole for Malaysian MotoGP in rain-hit race

Sepang, Indonesia: World champion Marc Marquez snatched pole position Saturday for the Malaysian MotoGP despite crashing in a rain-hit, drama-filled race, dimming Andrea Dovizioso's hopes of a third consecutive win at Sepang.

It was the 80th pole position in the career of the Spanish sensation, who was last month crowned the champion in motorcycling's premier class for the fifth time.

Saturday's action got off to a bad start after qualifying was delayed for over an hour as a sudden burst of monsoon rain lashed the track in the tropical Southeast Asian country.

But the weather improved later, allowing the race to go ahead, and Honda's Marquez clocked up the fastest lap time of 2min 12.161 sec fairly early on.

Yamaha's Johann Zarco took second place and was 0.548 off the pace, while Italian legend Valentino Rossi -- who has won six times in Malaysia -- rounded out the front row.

Marquez managed to maintain his lead despite a crash after about 10 minutes, which saw him tumble out of the saddle as his bike slipped on a sharp turn.

He got up unhurt, quickly changed to a new bike, and continued racing.

"Today I take profit of one of my strongest points, that is I adapt really quick to the conditions," said Marquez.

He said that in the final practice session earlier Saturday, when the rain began to fall, he got a chance to try out the track in wet conditions, meaning he was ready for the qualifying race.

Zarco's hopes of another podium finish at Sunday's MotoGP, after he came third at Sepang last year, were given a lift by his good performance.

The Frenchman said his performance was "not good enough for pole, but good enough to be second and give to me a lot of chance for tomorrow."

"It would be nice to be on the podium tomorrow," he added. 

But there was disappointment for Ducati's Dovizioso, who crashed late on in the race, and ended up clocking only the fifth fastest time. 

The result dented his hopes of winning for a third time in a row in Malaysia and finishing the season as runner-up overall.

He is currently second-placed in the overall standings with nine-time world champion Rossi -- who last won in Malaysia in 2010 -- just 15 points behind in third.

Organisers decided to shift Sunday's Grand Prix forward by two hours to 1:00 pm (0500 GMT) in a bid to avoid the heavy rains that typically fall later in the afternoon in Malaysia.

"For me it is a clever choice (to hold) the race at 1:00 pm. We will have more chance for a dry race," said Rossi.

"If we wait until 3:00 pm, maybe we don't race."

The sudden heavy downpours and humidity have long been a challenge for riders in the Malaysian Grand Prix. The last two editions of the race were both hit by torrential rains.