SELANGOR, Malaysia, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin set a lap record on Saturday to take pole position for the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix, as Enea Bastianini gave himself an outside shot at the title as the top three contenders all struggled in qualifying. Martin posted a time of one minute 57.790 seconds ahead of the penultimate round of the championship, which is returning to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since 2019. It was the Spaniard's second pole in as many weeks following another lap record in Australia last weekend and he went 0.456 seconds faster than Bastianini. Bagnaia, who will start in ninth ahead of Espargaro, can wrap up the title ahead of the final round in Spain if he wins on Sunday and Quartararo finishes outside the top three. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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