Bagnaia edges out Martin in second practice

Francesco Bagnaia continued his fine form on Friday by topping the Practice session at the 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 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, while his rival for third place in the championship, Marc Marquez, only just snuck into Q2 with the 10th-quickest time.

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

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, while Jack Miller was the sole KTM representative in the top 10 with the 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. 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, with Johann Zarco (LCR) 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.