#TheRematch rivals went head-to-head for Practice honours with the #1 coming out on top – but only just.
0.050s splitting Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) after Day 1 of the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia? That’ll do nicely for us neutrals in the stands. #TheRematch rivals went head-to-head on Friday afternoon and it was the reigning World Champion who bagged the perfect day on paper, as the points leader suffered a small crash late in the day. Meanwhile, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) completed the top three as the Italian lapped just under two tenths slower than teammate Bagnaia. And remember, he said he wouldn’t help…
From early in the session, Martin sat at the summit as title rival Bagnaia was enduring a not-so-smooth sailing session in the afternoon heat. A change of gloves was needed heading into the final 20 minutes of Practice and with less than 15 minutes to go, Pecco was outside of the all-important – and more crucial than ever – top 10.
And it was with 14 minutes to go when we saw the time attacks come in. Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) was the first big mover, the Japanese rider climbed to P3 behind Martin and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Then, the goalposts were moved by the #1. Bagnaia set a 1:58.280 to go 0.091s quicker than teammate Bastianini, with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) now inside the top three too.
Bagnaia’s stint at the top didn’t last long though. Martin dipped into the 1:57s for the first time to sit nearly half a second clear of the pack with 10 minutes to go, as Bastianini improved to leapfrog Bagnaia into P2. On his next flying lap, Martin gained more time to set a 1:57.729 to put him 0.532s clear of Bastianini. Now, how could Pecco respond?
The answer was very well. Bagnaia nailed his final two sectors on a fresh medium rear Michelin tyre to beat Martin’s time by 0.050s, as Rins – shadowing the reigning Champion – jumped to P4 ahead of teammate Fabio Quartararo.
Then, a small dose of drama was served up. Martin was down at Turn 1 as he clicked back into time attack mode, at that was his session over. Day 1 belonged to Bagnaia in #TheRematch watch, but further down the timesheets, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) needed a last-lap PB to hop into the top 10.
And the #93 produced the goods – but only just. Marquez went P8 but improvements from Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Quartararo shuffled the eight-time World Champion down to P10, and those late laps demoted Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) to P11.
So at the end of play, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) led the charge behind the leading trio in P4, with Top Gun the only other rider to get within half a second of Bagnaia’s impressive effort. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) was 0.6s away in P5, as less than a tenth split the #73 to his brother Marc Marquez in P10. Making up the filling in the Marquez sandwich were Quartararo, Morbidelli, Rins and Miller, as both Yamahas enjoy fruitful Fridays in Sepang – a rare double automatic Q2 entry.
On Saturday morning, Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) are the standout names that will need to progress through Q1 in Malaysia, but all eyes will be on #TheRematch. Will Bagnaia be able to keep Martin behind him in qualifying and the Tissot Sprint, or will the early weekend momentum shift in the Spaniard’s favour? We all can’t wait to find out what unfolds.
SHOWTIME
FP2: 10:00 (UTC+8)
Q1: 10:50
Q2: 11:15
Tissot Sprint: 15:00
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