MotoGP Malaysian GP: Martin edges Marquez in first practice

MotoGP championship contender Jorge Martin led first practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Alex Marquez by 0.049 seconds.

The 18th round of the 2023 season marks the beginning of the final run to the end of the campaign, with three grands prix coming up to decide the fate of the championship.

Pramac Ducati’s Martin trails reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia by 13 points coming to the Sepang round, and kicked off the weekend fastest of all in FP1.

Martin snatched top spot late on with a run on fresh medium rubber to best Marquez, who led for much of the session on his Gresini Ducati.

Bagnaia’s typically low-key approach to Friday mornings in 2023 continued in Malaysia, with the factory team Ducati rider 15th.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro kicked off proceedings with the first reference lap of the session at 2m02.066s inside the first five minutes.

Martin took over from Espargaro with a 2m00.984s a few moments later, before Alex Marquez began his stay at the head of the times with a 2m00.680s.

With just over half an hour to go, Marquez improved to a 2m00.530s, which would stand as the benchmark until the closing 10 minutes.

He would be deposed by Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, who posted a 2m00.055s on a fresh hard rear tyre.

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

But a late charge from Martin, who posted a 1m59.513s on a new medium rear, would secure the Spaniard top spot.

Marquez folded in behind with a 1m59.562s at the end of the session, while Johann Zarco completed the top three on the second Pramac Ducati.

Morbidelli headed Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo in fourth, with Luca Marini on the VR46 Ducati sixth from Aleix Espargaro.

Espargaro crashed at the last corner with around 17 minutes to go, with his RS-GP briefly spitting flames from the rear of the bike before the marshals put the fire out.

Marco Bezzecchi was eighth on the second VR46 Ducati, with Tech3 GasGas duo Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez completing the top 10.

Bagnaia was 15th ahead of factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini, while Marc Marquez was 17th on the leading Honda.

Reigning World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista was 22nd out of 23 riders as he makes a Ducati wildcard appearance.

Marking his first grand prix session since the 2018 Valencia GP, Bautista was 3.003s off the pace, ahead of only LCR Honda substitute Iker Lecuona.

MotoGP Malaysian GP FP1 results

Driver Info

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	16	1'59.513		166.967
2	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	17	+0.049 1'59.562	0.049	166.899
3	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5	Ducati	14	+0.401 1'59.914	0.352	166.409
4	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21	Yamaha	16	+0.542 2'00.055	0.141	166.213
5	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	17	+0.621 2'00.134	0.079	166.104
6	L. Marini Team VR46	10	Ducati	18	+0.729 2'00.242	0.108	165.955
7	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	11	+0.731 2'00.244	0.002	165.952
8	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	15	+0.738 2'00.251	0.007	165.942
9	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44	KTM	14	+0.785 2'00.298	0.047	165.878
10	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	18	+0.954 2'00.467	0.169	165.645
11	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	17	+1.006 2'00.519	0.052	165.573
12	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88	Aprilia	18	+1.081 2'00.594	0.075	165.470
13	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25	Aprilia	13	+1.267 2'00.780	0.186	165.216
14	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49	Ducati	15	+1.356 2'00.869	0.089	165.094
15	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	16	+1.375 2'00.888	0.019	165.068
16	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	18	+1.389 2'00.902	0.014	165.049
17	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93	Honda	15	+1.597 2'01.110	0.208	164.765
18	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	16	+1.665 2'01.178	0.068	164.673
19	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	15	+1.835 2'01.348	0.170	164.442
20	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	16	+1.839 2'01.352	0.004	164.437
21	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	17	+2.024 2'01.537	0.185	164.187
22	A. Bautista Ducati Team	19	Ducati	15	+3.003 2'02.516	0.979	162.875
23	I. Lecuona Team LCR	27	Honda	15	+3.780 2'03.293	0.777	161.848
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