2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Friday Practice Results

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2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Practice Results

PosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax1Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP24)1'57.679s16/18336k2Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP24)+0.050s18/20329k3Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo (GP24)+0.198s18/20332k4Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+0.462s18/18331k5Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+0.617s19/20327k6Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.624s18/18330k7Franco MorbidelliITAPramac Ducati (GP24)+0.631s17/17329k8Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.657s16/18332k9Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.681s20/20332k10Marc MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+0.683s18/18328k11Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)*+0.759s19/19335k12Marco BezzecchiITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+0.781s20/20326k13Johann ZarcoFRALCR Honda (RC213V)+0.946s18/18331k14Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.970s14/15332k15Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+1.321s19/19330k16Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)+1.428s20/20329k17Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+1.509s11/11331k18Luca MariniITARepsol Honda (RC213V)+1.696s22/22330k19Augusto FernandezSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)+1.723s15/19329k20Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+1.856s20/20328k21Andrea IannoneITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+1.939s18/18325k22Lorenzo SavadoriITATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)+2.429s19/19329k

* Rookie

Official Sepang MotoGP Records:

Best lap: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 57.491s (2023)

Fastest race lap: Alex Marquez 1m 58.979s (2023)

Francesco Bagnaia seizes the initiative during Friday practice for the 2024 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang.

The reigning champion, trailing Jorge Martin by 17 points with two rounds to go, edged out the Pramac title leader by just 0.050s during the time attacks.

Martin was denied a chance to respond due to a late fall at Turn 1 but will take heart from being the fastest on used tyres, while Bagnaia had been only 11th.

Bagnaia’s team-mate and defending Sepang winner Enea Bastianini was third with Maverick Vinales best of the non GP24 riders in fourth for Aprilia.

2023 Sprint winner Alex Marquez was the quickest of the Gresinis, ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez claimed the final top ten places for direct Qualifying 2 access.

Outside the top ten and heading to Saturday’s Qualifying 1 are the likes of Pedro Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro.

Andrea Iannone finished his first day as a MotoGP rider since 2019 in 21st but within two-seconds of Bagnaia and ahead of Aprilia stand-in Lorenzo Savadori.

Before the time attacks, Martin was fastest from Jack Miller, Acosta, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco, with Bagnaia +0.5s in 11th.

Most riders used the less favoured medium front and hard rear tyres to clean the track during FP1 but switched to the preferred soft front/medium rears this afternoon.

Aleix Espargaro, Binder and Bezzecchi were among the other fallers during the session.

2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Free Practice (1) Results

PosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax1Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP24)1'58.795s14/15333k2Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+0.743s14/15326k3Marco BezzecchiITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+1.053s15/17329k4Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM (RC16)+1.452s14/15329k5Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)*+1.560s13/15332k6Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP24)+1.647s16/16330k7Alex MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+1.696s16/17328k8Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+1.789s7/14330k9Andrea IannoneITAVR46 Ducati (GP23)+1.856s15/16326k10Augusto FernandezSPARed Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)+1.915s16/16328k11Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+1.923s16/17327k12Marc MarquezSPAGresini Ducati (GP23)+1.974s11/15327k13Franco MorbidelliITAPramac Ducati (GP24)+1.994s16/17330k14Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo (GP24)+2.021s7/14333k15Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+2.078s16/19331k16Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+2.163s15/16329k17Johann ZarcoFRALCR Honda (RC213V)+2.412s13/14329k18Lorenzo SavadoriITATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)+2.553s15/15326k19Joan MirSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+2.719s8/14329k20Luca MariniITARepsol Honda (RC213V)+3.054s6/17326k21Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24)+3.058s10/16328k22Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP24)+3.631s5/12326k

* Rookie

Official Sepang MotoGP Records:

Best lap: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 57.491s (2023)

Fastest race lap: Alex Marquez 1m 58.979s (2023)

Francesco Bagnaia blasts to the top of opening practice for the 2024 Malaysian MotoGP by 0.743s at Sepang.

Aprilia's Maverick Vinales was the only rider within one second of the reigning champion.

However, the timesheets were muddled by some riders - including the top three of Bagnaia, Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi - switching to new soft front and medium rear rubber.

Others, including title leader Jorge Martin, stuck with the same medium front and hard rear tyres throughout, while some switched to new medium/hard tyres.

Andrea Iannone was among those to put the soft/medium and finished his first MotoGP session since 2019 in a brilliant 9th place!

Martin holds a 17-point lead over Bagnaia with two rounds and 64 points still up for grabs, although the status of the Valencia finale is now in doubt due to the extreme flooding.

Miguel Oliveira continues to be sidelined by fractures to his right wrist in Mandalika and is replaced at Trackhouse by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Iannone is replacing Fabio di Giannantonio at VR46.