Meanwhile, Michael van der Mark made his MotoGP debut today in Malaysia starting his work with confidence. The young Dutchman completed his first laps on the Yamaha YZR-M1 and immediately impressed by beating some of the regular MotoGP riders. Van der Mark finished the day 19e, and he will be back on the track tomorrow at 09:55 a.m. local time, or 03:55 a.m. in Central Europe, for FP3.
The whole team Monster Yamaha Tech3 would like to send its condolences to the friends and family of Moto2 team manager Stefan Kiefer, who tragically passed away last night in Malaysia.
Johann Zarco, 3rd, 2'00.807, 29 rounds: “After the first day of action, I feel good even though I crashed in FP2 this afternoon. The track was slippery and we had a small problem with the rear of the bike. It was starting to dry out more and more so I pushed a little too hard and fell. Nevertheless, I am happy with the first session. The conditions were difficult, but neither the team nor the drivers knew if it was completely dry, so we had to take it step by step. Yet by the end of the session it was completely clear and possible to push. Lap after lap, the grip improved and my feeling was positive. Finally, I finished on Friday in 3rd position and we can be satisfied with our work on this first day in Malaysia.”
Michael van der Mark, 19th, 2'03.473, 28 laps: “It was an incredible day. This morning the weather was not ideal and I had to wait a bit before my first MotoGP outing. Then when I hit the track I immediately felt great and was comfortable so this morning I stayed and enjoyed the opening session. Then, in FP2, with the rain, I felt positive and I improved step by step. For my first day it's been a great experience, but the thing I need to work on the most is braking because, for me, that's the biggest difference between MotoGP and WorldSBK. The brakes are really powerful and it is more difficult to find the limit of the braking point. I'm going to focus on that, and tomorrow I hope we have some dry track time because I just want to enjoy and improve in each session. I think I can be very happy with my first day on the YZR-M1 and I want to continue to improve.”
Hervé Poncharal, Team manager: “I would like to say that today it doesn't matter what happened on the track and how good our drivers' performance was because it's a sad and dark day. Stefan Kiefer passed away last night, and we lost a true friend, one of us and a very competitive team manager who won the Moto2 World Championship in 2011 with Stefan Bradl. He was full of passion and energy, and his death is a huge loss for us all. I would like the whole paddock to remember him for the man he was.”
#MalaysianGP MotoGP J.1 Ranking:
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 2'00.671 | ||
| 2 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 2'00.742 | 0.071 / 0.071 | |
| 3 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 2'00.807 | 0.136 / 0.065 | |
| 4 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 2'00.903 | 0.232 / 0.096 | |
| 5 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 2'00.950 | 0.279 / 0.047 | |
| 6 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 2'01.060 | 0.389 / 0.110 | |
| 7 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 2'01.077 | 0.406 / 0.017 | |
| 8 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 2'01.147 | 0.476 / 0.070 | |
| 9 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 2'01.162 | 0.491 / 0.015 | |
| 10 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 2'01.189 | 0.518 / 0.027 | |
| 11 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 2'01.560 | 0.889 / 0.371 | |
| 12 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 2'01.662 | 0.991 / 0.102 | |
| 13 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 2'01.740 | 1.069 / 0.078 | |
| 14 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 2'01.803 | 1.132 / 0.063 | |
| 15 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 2'01.831 | 1.160 / 0.028 | |
| 16 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 2'02.416 | 1.745 / 0.585 | |
| 17 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 2'02.469 | 1.798 / 0.053 | |
| 18 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 2'03.056 | 2.385 / 0.587 | |
| 19 | 60 | Michael VAN DER MARK | Yamaha | 2'03.473 | 2.802 / 0.417 | |
| 20 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 2'03.531 | 2.860 / 0.058 | |
| 21 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 2'03.534 | 2.863 / 0.003 | |
| 22 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 2'04.381 | 3.710 / 0.847 | |
