Nico Terol took a big step closer to the 125cc title by taking his seventh pole of the year at Sepang, as his championship rival Johann Zarco ended up a disastrous 15th on the grid.

Zarco has to out-score Terol in Malaysia to keep the title fight alive until the Valencia finale, but he crashed at Turn 11 during qualifying. Although he managed to get his Ajo Derbi back to the pits for repairs, issues continued, particularly with the rear brakes and he had to stop on track to give the bike some more attention at one stage. Ultimately the best he could manage was 15th.

While Zarco was struggling, Terol was flying again, putting in a late 2m13.579s to beat his Aspar Aprilia team-mate Hector Faubel to pole by 0.015sec.

Sandro Cortese completed the front row for Team Germany, with Efren Vazquez (Ajo Derbi), Luis Salom (RW Aprilia) and Jonas Folger (Ajo Aprilia) filling row two.

Behind third row men Maverick Vinales (Blusens Aprilia), Alberto Moncayo (Andalucia Aprilia) and Adrian Martin (Aspar), Danny Kent recovered from a violent morning practice crash to put his Ajo Aprilia in 10th.

Pos  Rider                Team/Bike           Time       Gap
 1.  Nicolas Terol        Aspar Aprilia       2m13.579s
 2.  Hector Faubel        Aspar Aprilia       2m13.594s  + 0.015s
 3.  Sandro Cortese       Germany Aprilia     2m13.954s  + 0.375s
 4.  Efren Vazquez        Ajo Derbi           2m14.581s  + 1.002s
 5.  Luis Salom           RW Aprilia          2m14.682s  + 1.103s
 6.  Jonas Folger         Ajo Aprilia         2m14.776s  + 1.197s
 7.  Maverick Vinales     Blusens Aprilia     2m15.055s  + 1.476s
 8.  Alberto Moncayo      Andalucia Aprilia   2m15.272s  + 1.693s
 9.  Adrian Martin        Aspar Aprilia       2m15.304s  + 1.725s
10.  Danny Kent           Ajo Aprilia         2m15.590s  + 2.011s
11.  Jakub Kornfeil       Ongetta Aprilia     2m15.888s  + 2.309s
12.  Danny Webb           Mahindra            2m15.892s  + 2.313s
13.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin  Ajo Derbi           2m15.909s  + 2.330s
14.  Alexis Masbou        Caretta KTM         2m15.965s  + 2.386s
15.  Johann Zarco         Ajo Derbi           2m16.209s  + 2.630s
16.  Marcel Schrotter     Mahindra            2m16.233s  + 2.654s
17.  Louis Rossi          Matteoni Aprilia    2m16.373s  + 2.794s
18.  Giulian Pedone       Phonica Aprilia     2m16.601s  + 3.022s
19.  Harry Stafford       Ongetta Aprilia     2m16.638s  + 3.059s
20.  Jasper Iwema         Ongetta Aprilia     2m16.652s  + 3.073s
21.  Alessandro Tonucci   Italia FMI Aprilia  2m17.180s  + 3.601s
22.  Taylor Mackenzie     Phonica Aprilia     2m17.230s  + 3.651s
23.  Joan Perello         Matteoni Aprilia    2m17.443s  + 3.864s
24.  Josep Rodriguez      Blusens Aprilia     2m17.494s  + 3.915s
25.  Luigi Morciano       Italia FMI Aprilia  2m17.530s  + 3.951s
26.  Jack Miller          Caretta KTM         2m17.550s  + 3.971s
27.  Brad Binder          Andalucia Aprilia   2m17.867s  + 4.288s
28.  Sturla Fagerhaug     WTR-Ten10 Aprilia   2m17.941s  + 4.362s
29.  Manuel Tatasciore    Phonica Aprilia     2m18.237s  + 4.658s
30.  Arthur Sissis        TT Motion Aprilia   2m19.203s  + 5.624s
31.  Farid Badrul         Ajo Derbi           2m19.744s  + 6.165s
32.  Marco Colandrea      WTR-Ten10 Aprilia   2m19.972s  + 6.393s