Practice report

MotoGP Malaysian GP: Bagnaia sets early pace with FP1 scorcher

MotoGP world champion uses soft rubber to throw down the gauntlet to Martin at Sepang

Francesco Bagnaia made an early statement in his bid to beat world championship leader Jorge Martin by setting the fastest lap time in Friday’s Free Practice 1 for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

In contrast to Pramac Ducati’s Martin, factory Ducati rider Bagnaia chose to run a soft front at the end of the session, a move that powered him to a time fully 1.647s better than Martin’s.

Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) joined Bagnaia with late runs on soft rubber, and duly set laps good enough for second and third on the timesheets respectively. Vinales was however 0.743s in arrears of Bagnaia, with Bezzecchi over a second adrift.

Jack Miller (KTM) in fourth was quickest of the riders to take the more conventional approach to the session by simply running a medium front tyre throughout.

Tech 3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta was fifth behind the Australian and the only rider to drop his bike during the session, with a very late crash at Turn 9.

Martin was third-quickest of the riders to stick with the mediums and thus sixth overall. The Spaniard, who leads the championship by 17 points over Bagnaia with one round to go after Malaysia, made one small mistake during the session as he outbraked himself and ran wide at the final corner.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was seventh-fastest, followed by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Quartararo led much of the session before the likes of Bagnaia pitted for soft rubber. The Frenchman’s bike broke down with a few minutes remaining in the session, although he was able to coast it back to the garage.

MotoGP returnee Andrea Iannone broke into the top 10 for VR46 Ducati, where he is replacing the injured Fabio di Giannantonio. This ninth-fastest time was also courtesy of a late lap on a soft front, however.

Only five riders in total pulled the soft-rubber move, with Trackhouse Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori the fifth and slowest of these in 18th.

Acosta’s team-mate Augusto Fernandez completed the top 10, almost two seconds down on the pace-setting Bagnaia.

Gresini’s Marc Marquez was 12th and Bagnaia’s factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini ended FP1 14th. The pair are battling for third in the world championship.

Track action at Sepang started in slightly damp conditions after rain earlier in the morning, which led to an FP1 that was largely cautious and uneventful. It can also be regarded as inconclusive given the varying tyre strategies at play.

Photos from Malaysian GP Practice

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	15	1'58.795		167.976
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	15	+0.743 1'59.538	0.743	166.932
3	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	17	+1.053 1'59.848	0.310	166.500
4	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	15	+1.452 2'00.247	0.399	165.948
5	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	15	+1.560 2'00.355	0.108	165.799
6	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	16	+1.647 2'00.442	0.087	165.679
7	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	17	+1.696 2'00.491	0.049	165.612
8	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	14	+1.789 2'00.584	0.093	165.484
9	A. Iannone Team VR46	29	Ducati	16	+1.856 2'00.651	0.067	165.392
10	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	16	+1.915 2'00.710	0.059	165.311
11	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	17	+1.923 2'00.718	0.008	165.300
12	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	15	+1.974 2'00.769	0.051	165.231
13	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	17	+1.994 2'00.789	0.020	165.203
14	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	14
15	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	19	+2.078 2'00.873	0.084	165.088
16	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	16	+2.163 2'00.958	0.085	164.972
17	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	14	+2.412 2'01.207	0.249	164.634
18	L. Savadori Trackhouse Racing Team	32	Aprilia	15	+2.553 2'01.348	0.141	164.442
19	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	14	+2.719 2'01.514	0.166	164.218
20	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	17	+3.054 2'01.849	0.335	163.766
21	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	16	+3.058 2'01.853	0.004	163.761
22	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	12	+3.631 2'02.426	0.573	162.994
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