MotoGP Malaysian GP: Bagnaia edges out Martin in second practice

Francesco Bagnaia continued his fine form on Friday by topping the second practice session at MotoGP's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The factory Ducati rider scored a psychological victory over points leader Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) by putting in a 1m57.679s lap at the end of the session, to which the Spaniard fell trying to respond.

Martin holds a 17-point lead in the championship, but Bagnaia’s Friday performance sets him up well to cut that gap over the weekend as he tries to snatch a third straight world championship. The Italian was quickest in both sessions on the opening day at Sepang, having also topped FP1 in the morning.

Martin led the way for much of the session and looked the favourite after setting the initial pace in the final push for times, but Bagnaia delivered when it really counted in the final minutes.

Despite his fall at Turn 1 immediately after Bagnaia had set his time, Martin ended up second-fastest, meaning both can safely focus on qualifying after booking their spots in Q2.

Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini was third-fastest as the GP24s looked rapid at Sepang, while his rival for third place in the championship, Marc Marquez, only just snuck into Q2 with the 10th-fastest time.

Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales’s late effort was enough to put him fourth-fastest, with Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez fifth-quickest.

Yamaha was able to celebrate both its riders making it through to Q2, despite Fabio Quartararo having lost an engine in the morning. The 2021 world champion was sixth-fastest, with team-mate Alex Rins eighth.

Splitting the pair was Pramac Ducati’s Franco Morbidelli, whilst Jack Miller was sole KTM representative in the top 10 with ninth-fastest time.

The Austrian manufacturer’s rookie star Pedro Acosta will have to try to get into Q2 via the back door in Q1, as the Tech3 rider could only manage 11th-fastest behind Gresini's Marc Marquez. Miller’s factory team-mate Brad Binder was always playing catch-up after a fall at the start of the session, and placed 14th.

Marco Bezzecchi was another to fall, dropping his VR46 at the final corner midway through the session. He wound up 12th-fastest for VR46, with Johann Zarco (LCR) the best of the Hondas in 13th.

Fabio di Giannantonio’s stand-in at VR46 Ducati, Andrea Iannone, was 1.939s off the ultimate pace in practice. He was ahead of only Miguel Oliveira’s substitute at Trackhouse Aprilia, Lorenzo Savadori in 21st place.

Photos from Malaysian GP Practice

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Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	18	1'57.679		169.569
2	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	20	+0.050 1'57.729	0.050	169.497
3	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	20	+0.198 1'57.877	0.148	169.284
4	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	18	+0.462 1'58.141	0.264	168.906
5	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	20	+0.617 1'58.296	0.155	168.685
6	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	18	+0.624 1'58.303	0.007	168.675
7	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21		Ducati	17	+0.631 1'58.310	0.007	168.665
8	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	18	+0.657 1'58.336	0.026	168.628
9	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	20	+0.681 1'58.360	0.024	168.594
10	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93		Ducati	18	+0.683 1'58.362	0.002	168.591
11	P. Acosta Tech 3	31		KTM	19	+0.759 1'58.438	0.076	168.483
12	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	20	+0.781 1'58.460	0.022	168.451
13	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	18	+0.946 1'58.625	0.165	168.217
14	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	15	+0.970 1'58.649	0.024	168.183
15	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	19	+1.321 1'59.000	0.351	167.687
16	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	20	+1.428 1'59.107	0.107	167.536
17	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	11	+1.509 1'59.188	0.081	167.422
18	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10		Honda	22	+1.696 1'59.375	0.187	167.160
19	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	19	+1.723 1'59.402	0.027	167.122
20	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	20	+1.856 1'59.535	0.133	166.936
21	A. Iannone Team VR46	29		Ducati	18	+1.939 1'59.618	0.083	166.821
22	L. Savadori Trackhouse Racing Team	32		Aprilia	19	+2.429 2'00.108	0.490	166.140
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