MotoGP Malaysian GP: Marquez tops practice as Martin ends Friday early

Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez survived a fall to go fastest on Friday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, while his injured MotoGP title rival Jorge Martin curtailed his running and will have to navigate Q1 if he continues to compete on Saturday.

The first half of the session was unremarkable in terms of the timesheets, with Fabio Di Giannantonio finding his way to the top of them early aboard the VR46 Ducati. 

In that period, nearly all riders were simply putting in laps with the soft rear tyre as they prepared for the racing later in the weekend. It was noticeable that the bikes looked nervous around the Sepang circuit, with Jack Miller an early faller. 

Another to endure a fright on the first run was Martin, who saved a scary moment in a fast left-hander. Shortly thereafter, he brought his factory Aprilia into the box and disappeared into the depths of the garage. Not long after that, the team confirmed that his day was done. Martin would focus on taking care of his broken wrist and worry about qualifying in Q1 on Saturday - if at all.

Seventeen minutes into the session, world championship leader Marquez bit the dust as he dropped the factory Ducati at the final corner. It was a low-speed incident, but another suggestion that track conditions were not easy. Marquez got going on his second bike soon enough, but continued to look a skittish presence on the circuit. 

With 20 minutes to go, the riders began to venture out on fresh soft tyres in a bid to ensure they made Q2 on Saturday. Marquez quickly gave then a formidable target by registering a time of exactly 1m57s. Almost a second to the good at that point, it was over to his rivals to respond as they got up to speed on fresh rubber.

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Alex Marquez briefly threatened Marc's time with three red sectors with eight minutes to go, but lost out in the last split to stop the clocks just over a tenth shy in second place. 

That was as close as anybody got for the rest of the session, as yellow flags at crucial times made it a challenge to register a legitimate lap time. 

Marc, meanwhile, did not even take a fresh set of tyres, feeling safe enough to turn his final run into a mini-test of his suspension settings. 

Ai Ogura led Aprilia's charge by finding the third-fastest time, with Noale's other remaining fit representative, Marco Bezzecchi, booking a Q2 spot with the sixth-quickest lap.

Pedro Acosta (KTM) made Q2 easily with fourth-quickest time, which was no surprise. More unusual was both Tech3 KTM riders making the cut, with Enea Bastianini seventh and Maverick Vinales eighth. 

The VR46 Ducati pair of Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli also made it through, in fifth and ninth respectively, while Joan Mir produced an excellent performance on his comeback from illness to snare the 10th-quickest time.

The late yellow flags were caused first by Bastianini falling with four minutes to go and then by two men who were still trying to scramble into the top 10: Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia. Crashing put paid to that dream, but both will be among the favourites to progress from Q1 on Saturday morning.

MotoGP Malaysian GP - Practice results

FiP

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93		Ducati	18	1'57.000		170.553	333
2	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	17	+0.109 1'57.109	0.109	170.395	336
3	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79		Aprilia	20	+0.167 1'57.167	0.058	170.310	334
4	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37		KTM	18	+0.380 1'57.380	0.213	170.001	338
5	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	19	+0.442 1'57.442	0.062	169.911	333
6	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72		Aprilia	20	+0.475 1'57.475	0.033	169.864	333
7	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23		KTM	15	+0.545 1'57.545	0.070	169.763	337
8	M. Viñales Tech 3	12		KTM	17	+0.547 1'57.547	0.002	169.760	334
9	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21		Ducati	21	+0.582 1'57.582	0.035	169.709	333
10	J. Mir Honda HRC	36		Honda	15	+0.618 1'57.618	0.036	169.657	337
11	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	16	+0.805 1'57.805	0.187	169.388	336
12	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63		Ducati	14	+0.807 1'57.807	0.002	169.385	337
13	D. Moreira Team LCR	11		Honda	16	+0.913 1'57.913	0.106	169.233	336
14	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	17	+1.161 1'58.161	0.248	168.878	331
15	I. Lecuona Gresini Racing	27		Ducati	18	+1.192 1'58.192	0.031	168.833	331
16	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43		Yamaha	17	+1.208 1'58.208	0.016	168.810	332
17	L. Marini Honda HRC	10		Honda	17	+1.462 1'58.462	0.254	168.448	334
18	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	20	+1.499 1'58.499	0.037	168.396	337
19	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	19	+1.604 1'58.604	0.105	168.247	330
20	A. Fernandez Pramac Racing	47		Yamaha	16	+2.376 1'59.376	0.772	167.159	329
21	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89		Aprilia	3	+2.670 1'59.670	0.294	166.748	336
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