Moto2 Malaysia Sepang FP1: Tetsuta Nagashima takes on Brad Binder and Álex Márquez

The Moto2 category is the last Grand Prix discipline this season where the World Champion of the year has yet to be determined. Álex Márquez has the advantage, but he is under pressure. Tom Lüthi always plays positioned and doesn't give up while Brad Binder uses his enthusiasm to force destiny. The KTM factory rider who will retire at the end of this campaign from the discipline took his sixth victory in this peloton and his third of the year last Sunday at Phillip Island. The South African has no intention of stopping there...

50 points cover the top 5 gathered in the provisional general classification on the eve of the penultimate round of this contested season. Who will be decisive? Before answering this question and knowing the trend released by this FP1, here is the table which summarizes the facts…

Moto2 Sepang™	2018	2019
FP1	2'08.351 Alex Marquez	2'06.300 s Tetsuta Nagashima
FP2	2'06.928 Alex Marquez
FP3	2'07.768 Alex Marquez
Q1	XXX
Q2	2'05.629 Alex Marquez
Warm-up	2'23.985 Andrea Locatelli
Course	Marini, Oliveira, Bagnaia
All time lap record	2'05.629 Alex Márquez (2018)

It's 28,3 degrees in the air and 31,6 degrees on the track. The sky is mostly cloudy even though the sun is making an effort to stay out.

It is Marini which does not waste time and sets the reference time at the start of the session in 2.12.466s ahead Virgin et Martin. The times drop as the laps go by, the track drying out.

It's a tough battle ahead and after 10 minutes of session it's lecuona who is the fastest in 2.08.258s ahead Navarro and Martin.

Marini made a mistake in turn 15. He fell again on his injured shoulder during the last Grand Prix.

Márquez who could be crowned this weekend comes in turn, taking the best lap time in 2.07.812s ahead lecuona et Lüthi. The championship leader seems to have regained momentum and is pushing to further improve his time, he laps 2.06.976s. lecuona et Nagashima follow in his footsteps. NAVARRO et Baldassarri close the top5.

18 more minutes and it's Márquez who still has the best time in 2.06.976s ahead Nagashima et lecuona. Gardner et NAVARRO are in 4th and 5th place.

Binder, future teammate of Pol Espargaro in MotoGP next season on an official KTM, is 11th.

Still 5 minutes before the end of the session and Márquez holds on at the front having scraped another two tenths off his own time in 2.06.790s.

Lüthi is 2rd in 2.06.919s, NAVARRO is 3th. Schrötter et Nagashima are 4th and 5th. The fastest KTM rider is lecuona which is 6th.

kick of Roberts in turn 10.

End of session and it's Nagashima who took the best time of the session in 2.06.300s ahead of Binder and Márquez. Lüthi and Navarro finished 4th and 5th.

Full results: