Marc Márquez tops MotoGP Practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix. After a slow start to the session, the last ten minutes saw all of the riders push. Márquez set a 1:57.000 to top the timsheets ahead of Álex Márquez and Ai Ogura.
M. Márquez topped this morning’s session, with Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta just behind after setting the same lap time.
With two riders having to be reviewed after FP1. Jorge Martín has been declared fit to continue with the weekend with his wrist injury for the Australian Grand Prix Sprint. Raúl Fernández, however, was declared unfit due to a finger injury that he got during the Indonesian Grand Prix Sprint.
Start of Session
The green flag at the end of the session marked the start of the session. The riders headed out onto the circuit, ready to push their limits. This session is so important as it allows the top 10 riders to head straight through to Qualifying Two tomorrow.
After the first flying laps, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio who was fastest ahead of Á. Márquez and Johann Zarco. Martín had a massive moment on his first push lap, nearly losing the front. He came back into the pits complaining that he had no strength.
Aprilia Racing Team Manager Paolo Bonora said. “We’ve decided that Jorge (Martín) won’t continue for the rest of today. We’ll see how he is tomorrow morning”.
There were some early crashes for Jack Miller at turn four and M. Márquez in turn 15. The circuit was looking dirtier than usual.
Fermín Aldeguer was still out injured and was being replaced this weekend by World Superbike runner-up Iker Lecuona. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu is out for the rest of the season and is being replaced by Augusto Fernandez. At the midpoint of the session, the time sheets had not changed much, with riders working on setup.
It was clear to see that the whole field was pushing. Even Fabio Quartararo, who was sitting in P14, saved himself from crashing.
Last 15 Minutes
As the session drew to a close, riders began pushing again. M. Márquez set the fastest lap of the year with a 1:57.000. He was ahead of three KTMs: Acosta, Enea Bastianini, and Maverick Viñales, showing his best pace of the season.
A late crash for Bastianini at turn two, Zarco for turn seven and Francesco Bagnaia at turn one put the yellow flag. The rest of the riders kept pushing to improve their lap times.
Even with all of the riders pushing, no one could beat M. Márquez’s lap time. He went faster than his brother Á. Márquez and Ogura, who had a quiet session overall.
Session Top 10:
P1: #93 Marc Márquez
P2: #73 Álex Márquez
P3: #79 Ai Ogura
P4: #37 Pedro Acosta
P5: #49 Fabio Di Giannantonio
P6: #72 Marco Bezzecchi
P7: #23 Enea Bastianini
P8: #12 Maverick Viñales
P9: #21 Franco Morbidelli
P10: #36 Joan Mir