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.