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MotoGP Malaysian GP

MotoGP Malaysian GP: Marquez outpaces Martin in FP2

Gresini rider Alex Marquez led second practice for the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix on his year-old Ducati from Pramac’s Jorge Martin.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

In a reverse of Friday morning’s FP1 session, Marquez led Martin by 0.174 seconds after posting a 1m57.823s on his final flying lap.

KTM duo Jack Miller and Brad Binder trailed the Ducati pair, while Maverick Vinales was fifth on his factory Aprilia as team-mate Aleix Espargaro crashed three times.

Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was eighth and secured a place directly into Q2 for Saturday’s qualifying.

The hour-long second practice session took place under grey skies at the Sepang International Circuit, but the rain stayed away.

Marc Marquez set the early pace on his factory Honda at 1m59.515s before younger brother Alex edged ahead with a 1m58.705s just over five minutes in.

This would stay as the reference lap for a while, before Martin posted a 1m58.523s with around 38 minutes to go.

With just under 15 minutes to run, Bagnaia took over from Martin with a 1m58.493s, only to be immediately deposed by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Quartararo’s 1m58.399s didn’t keep him top for long, as KTM’s Binder edged ahead with a 1m58.310s before Martin fired in a 1m58.227s with just under 11 minutes to go to return to the top spot.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Martin moved to cement his position with a 1m57.997s on his final flying lap, but would be denied by 0.174s by Alex Marquez.

Miller jumped ahead of Binder at the chequered flag with a 1m58.232s, with VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini shadowing Vinales in sixth.

Quartararo ended up seventh at the chequered flag, but was left livid with his Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli when the Italian got in the way of his final flying lap.

Bagnaia, Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) and Pramac’s Johann Zarco completed the top 10 to secure the last direct Q2 spots.

Morbidelli was just 0.084s outside of the top 10 in 11th after a late moment on his Yamaha, while Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati will join him in Q1.

Both factory Honda riders will also face Q1 on Saturday morning, with Marc Marquez 15th and Joan Mir 16th.

A crash for Raul Fernandez left the RNF Aprilia rider down in 18th, while Aleix Espargaro was 20th after tallying his fourth fall of the day.

Ducati wildcard Alvaro Bautista was 2.547s off the pace in 22nd.

MotoGP Malaysian GP FP2 results

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 19

1'57.823

  169.362  
2 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 20

+0.174

1'57.997

0.174 169.112  
3 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 20

+0.409

1'58.232

0.235 168.776  
4 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 19

+0.484

1'58.307

0.075 168.669  
5 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 17

+0.489

1'58.312

0.005 168.662  
6 Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 21

+0.511

1'58.334

0.022 168.631  
7 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 19

+0.576

1'58.399

0.065 168.538  
8 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 20

+0.597

1'58.420

0.021 168.508  
9 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 21

+0.627

1'58.450

0.030 168.466  
10 France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 16

+0.664

1'58.487

0.037 168.413  
11 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 19

+0.748

1'58.571

0.084 168.294  
12 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 19

+0.782

1'58.605

0.034 168.245  
13 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 20

+0.855

1'58.678

0.073 168.142  
14 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 15

+0.886

1'58.709

0.031 168.098  
15 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 19

+0.965

1'58.788

0.079 167.986  
16 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 19

+1.079

1'58.902

0.114 167.825  
17 Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 17

+1.151

1'58.974

0.072 167.724  
18 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 15

+1.201

1'59.024

0.050 167.653  
19 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 16

+1.327

1'59.150

0.126 167.476  
20 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 9

+1.903

1'59.726

0.576 166.670  
21 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 22

+1.932

1'59.755

0.029 166.630  
22 Spain A. Bautista Ducati Team 19 Ducati 21

+2.547

2'00.370

0.615 165.778  
23 Spain I. Lecuona Team LCR 27 Honda 22

+2.628

2'00.451

0.081 165.667  

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