Dovizioso wins Malaysia pole, Rossi second

Andrea Dovizioso won pole position for the Malaysia MotoGP on Saturday ahead of fellow Italian Valentino Rossi, who improved his chances of wrapping up second place for the season.

Ducati's Dovizioso clocked a lap of 2min 11.485secs on the rain-dampened Sepang International Circuit to take his second pole of the season.

But the results set up a clash between Rossi and his Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who are vying for runner-up honours behind recently crowned MotoGP champion Marc Marquez of Honda.

Lorenzo joins Dovizioso and Rossi in the front row, while Marquez is in the second row after finishing fourth in qualifying despite battling gastroenteritis for days.

Marquez already clinched the MotoGP championship two weeks ago in Japan.