Bagnaia maintains control with Martin in pursuit following a late crash

The #1 storms to the top of the timesheets with Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini in pursuit after an intense Friday in Malaysia.

There was high pressure and high stakes on Friday afternoon, with MotoGP™ Practice serving up an intriguing 60 minutes of action as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) claimed top honours at the end of an adrenaline-filled Friday at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia. 

The #1 ends the day with just a 0.050s advantage over title rival Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who took second after the Spaniard crashed at Turn 1 during his final time attack. The #89 showed incredible pace throughout the session and held onto his place inside the top two, ending the day in front of Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), with ‘The Beast’ securing third.

It was a busy start to the session, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) suffering crashes in the opening 15 minutes of Practice. Martin took top honours in the opening stages, setting a 1:58.939 on his sixth lap of the session. The #89 continued a relentless pace, pushing to the limit and topping the session in the opening stages ahead of Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

Time attacks began to arrive in the final 15 minutes, with Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) becoming one of the first riders to find a chunk of time, briefly jumping to P3. Soon after, it was Bagnaia and Bastianini who began their time attacks as the Ducati Lenovo Team briefly held a one-two. Martin responded, smashing into the 1:57 bracket before improving further in the Sepang heat. It was a thrilling end to the session, with Bagnaia snatching P1 before Martin made his first mistake of the weekend at Turn 1.

Fourth place was secured by Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), with the #12 ending the day as the top rider from the Noale factory. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez will sleep well tonight, taking P5 and placing as the top Gresini Racing MotoGP™ rider. The #73 was in front of Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), with the Frenchman continuing an incredible weekend onboard his M1.

Franco Morbidelli bagged seventh spot, completing a solid day for the Prima Pramac Racing squad. The Italian set a stunning 1:58.310, earning a Q2 spot and ending proceedings ahead of Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), with both Yamaha riders finishing inside the top 10. Meanwhile, Miller was ninth, with the Aussie becoming the only Pierer Mobility rider to secure a Q2 spot. Miller ends Friday in front of Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), who snatched the final spot inside the top 10 on his final flying lap.

Further back, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) will face Q1, missing out by 0.076s, while Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was unable to recover after an earlier fall – finishing Friday in 12^th. Meanwhile, Andrea Iannone (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) completed a remarkable first day, taking the flag to place 21^st.

Join us on Saturday as the world’s most exciting sport returns for Free Practice 2 at 10:10 local time (UTC +8) before an intense qualifying gets underway at 10:50 (UTC +8) to set the grid for the Tissot Sprint at 15:00 (UTC +8) as another twist in the title race awaits!

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