2018 MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez said that the late laps he got in during the rain in FP4 were pivotal in helping him secure pole position around the Sepang International Circuit.

Rain halfway through FP4 saw Marquez and the rest of the MotoGP field get the opportunity to test the track in the wet conditions. Marquez adapted quickly and was the fastest man in the brief two lap wet stint, before going on to claim pole position by over half a second.

“Today I take profit of one of my strongest points and that is to adapt really quickly to the conditions,” said the 25-year-old.

“It was really crucial the laps I did at the end of FP4 in the rain conditions because we then already understand something on the set up.

“Then for qualifying we changed and we already adapted and then I go out and I feel immediately better than FP4. So then I was trying to keep pushing, but unfortunately I lose the front in turn four.

“But the good thing is I take the second bike and go out and I did a 12.6 that was a good lap time.”

Tomorrow’s race has been brought forwards two hours from 15:00 local time to 13:00 in a bid to avoid the rain forecast for late afternoon. Marquez said that his pace in the dry is still extremely competitive, but thinks there are multiple riders with the pace to challenge.

“So happy but looks like tomorrow looks like we will have a dry race, because the fact moving the race two hours earlier, the possibility means we have more chance to have a dry race,” he said.

“In that we also have good pace, we did a big change from yesterday and we improve a lot and the pace is much better and very equal to Dovizioso and Vinales, but I think also Zarco and Valentino are very strong.”

Marquez said that his pace around a circuit in which he only has one premier class win, is reaffirmation of the work done by his Repsol Honda team, making his RC213V a more rounded bike.

“The most important is that we reconfirm a little bit what we have done all through the year,” explained Marquez.

“In circuits like Sepang, which is not one of the best for my riding, style and me where we struggle every year, we are there. We are there fighting for the podium, this is the most important. In the circuits you feel good you push and try to win the race. In the circuits you struggle, this year you are able to be on the podium and this is the target for tomorrow.

“We will check the pace for the dry, we cannot be out of the victory, our race pace is not far from the best guys in the dry. We will give 100% to finish the year in a good way. If it’s wet, you never know, you need to be safe but also fast.”