MotoGP Malaysia FP1 LIVE: Francesco Bagnaia destroys the field at Sepang! Andrea Iannone 9th!

After the Thailand Grand Prix at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, there are only two of them left, George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), separated by only 17 small dots while 74 are still potentially to be registered, to be able to compete for the title of world champion MotoGP 2024.

More than just an Excel table, our graph allows you to immediately see the highlights of the current season, in particular the escape of the two title contenders relegating Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) as contenders for the 3rd step of the podium.

Total uncertainty, therefore, concerning the final order of the first four places, but also in the internal struggle between the two future teammates, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Peter Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), who are fighting for the last place in the top 5… or the first at the Mattighofen factory. 

For the rest, just look at the table, while noting that Fabio DiGiannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) had a very good season, undoubtedly less spectacular than that of the rookie Peter Acosta, but still very solid.

On the French side, we continue to progress for fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) and Johann zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), although only the latter scored points in Thailand, its best result of the year, whileThe Devil only owes to Franco Morbidelli to have come home empty-handed after a very promising start to the race...

To write the nineteenth chapter of this 2024 MotoGP season, it will be necessary to cover the long 10-metre track 5543 times during Saturday's Sprint (i.e. 55,430 km) and complete 20 loops (110,860 km) on Sunday, on a track with a very complete layout, alternating heavy braking at the end of the two straights with slow and fast curves.

This constrains Brembo to assign a difficulty index of 5 on a scale of 6, and, as in Thailand and Austria, to impose large carbon discs, preferably 340 mm.
In the same way, Michelin increased the hardness of the front rubber compounds by one notch. « This year, the 2023 Medium compound will be Soft, the Hard becomes Medium, and we have introduced a new Hard rubber. At the rear, there is no change in the tread compounds, however we have reinforced the internal structure of the tire to better contain high temperatures.« 

Among the current full-time pilots, Marc Marquez holds the most wins (2 x MotoGP™, 1 x 125cc) ahead of  Maverick Vinales (1 x MotoGP™, 1 x Moto2™, 1 x 125cc)., while the riders with the most podiums in the premier class are  Marc Marquez (4) Johann zarco (2) Francis Bagnaia (2) Enea Bastianini (2) alex rins (1) Maverick Vinales (1) Fabio Quartararo (1) et Alex Marquez (1)
Four of them have already started in pole position, chronologically Marc Marquez (3) Fabio Quartararo (1) George Martin (1) et Francis Bagnaia (1)

The records are set in 1'57.491 (Francesco Bagnaia) in 2023, and 339,6 km/h for the speed (Andrea Iannone) in 2015, which is much slower than at Phillip Island despite the 920-metre straight, due to the high speeds already reached at the exit of the Australian parabolic. Indeed, the progressive development of ailerons from 2016 has inversely reduced the maximum speed in favour of support on the front landing gear. Last year, George Martin was the fastest at 337,5 km/h, while during the same period the best lap time improved by a second and a half, from the 1'59.053 set by Dani Pedrosa in 2015 at 1'57.491 obtained by Francis Bagnaia Last year.

Last year, Enea Bastianini won the GP in front of Alex Marquez et Francesco Bagnaiaas Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia climbed onto the Sprint podium.

For the 19th round of a season that theoretically has 20, you will have to get up early, or go to bed late, and expect generally unstable weather throughout the weekend...

On the pilot side, Lorenzo Savadori continues to replace Miguel Oliveira injured at Trackhouse Racing, and of course Andrea Iannone makes his return to the motorcycle of Fabio Di Giannantonio who is going to have surgery on his left shoulder.

While waiting to discover more, as the 22 riders prepare for this first 45-minute free practice session, under a sky that is starting to clear after overnight rain that forced the Moto3s to use rain tires, and with morning temperatures of 30° in the air and 35° on the ground, let's enjoy these few moments of live coverage thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Malaysia, Sepang	2023	2024
FP1	1'59.513 Jorge Martin (See here)	1'58.795 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Practice	1'57.823 Alex Marquez (See here)	(See here)
FP2	1'58.960 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	(See here)
Q1	1'57.823 Fabio Di Giannantonio (See here)	(See here)
Q2	1'57.491 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Sprint	Alex Marquez, Martin, Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Warm Up	1'59.218 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	(See here)
Course	Bastianini, A. Marquez, Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'57.491 Francesco Bagnaia 2023 (See here)

When the red lights go out… the track is now generally dry despite a few slight patches of humidity, everyone sets off on slicks, Joan mir the first, fabio quartararo the last.

On the tire side, everyone uses the medium at the front, the hard at the rear.

At the end of a first round in which Pedro Acosta loses the grip of its tank cover, Jack Miller registered the first reference in 2'03.237 in front Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Marc Marquez and Raul Fernandez.

Enea Bastianini, last year's winner, returns to his box without recording a single time, while fabio quartararo takes the lead in 2'01.655 ahead of Jack Miller, Pedro Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi and Francesco Bagnaia.

The Frenchman has a slightly more powerful engine in Thailand, probably quite close to what he had in the first part of the season.

The third salvo presents us Marco Bezzecchi in 2'01.101 ahead Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo, Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez.

George Martin then took the lead in 2'00.947 before the first drivers returned to their pits, but Francis Bagnaia responds to the next round in 2'00.802: the tone is set…

Franco Morbidelli manages to get between the two duelists, then fabio quartararo took the lead in 2'00.584 (with the Thailand engine specification), and after this first run the hierarchy was composed of fabio quartararo, two tenths ahead Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, Brad Binder, Marc Márquez, Pedro Acosta, Takaaki Nakagami, Jack Miller, Augusto Fernandez, Enea Bastianini, Johann Zarco, Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Aleix Rins, Aleix Espargaro , Joan Mir, Raul Fernandez, Andrea Iannone and Lorenzo Savadori.

When we resume, we witness something very unusual, Francis Bagnaia almost stopping in the straight line with George Martin in his wheel. Finally, the Pramac rider cracks first and picks up speed, but we wonder if penalties will not fall...

In the meantime, Marc Márquez climbs to second position and, when the drivers return to prepare for the final rush in their box, the ranking presents us with a top 10 made up of Fabio Quartararo, Marc Márquez Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli, Jorge Martin, Brad Binder, Marco Bezzecchi, Pedro Acosta and Alex Márquez.

fabio quartararo leaves with his second machine equipped with the new engine specification but only makes one lap before being pushed onto his machine by Johann zarco to return to the box.

Peter Acosta then moved into provisional second position, 17/100 behind the French driver.
Francis Bagnaia leaves with a medium rear tire and a soft front tire…

There are six minutes left when Pedro Acosta seizes the lead in 2'00.355 with a new set of tires, medium front, hard rear, but must immediately bow to Francis Bagnaia and his choice of softer tires: 1'59.337!

Marco Bezzecchi, with the same tire allocation as Francis Bagnaia, jumps to 2nd position, while the reigning world champion improves to 1'58.795, relegating the field to more than 7/10!

Andrea Iannone does the same and positions itself 7th while that Maverick Vinales, probably equipped with the same mount, is in 2nd position.

Peter Acosta made a minor mistake in turn #9.

Unquestionably, Francesco Bagnaia wanted to destabilize his opponent and make an impression this morning. To do this, he used the subterfuge of softer tires at the end of the session, just like Maverick Vinales, Marco Bezzecchi, Andrea Iannone and Lorenzo Savadori, but he succeeded. George Martin not to panic and to remember that even if he finishes second in every race, he will be crowned champion at the end of the season...

See you at 8:00 p.m. for the Pre-Qualifying Practice!

Results of Free Practice 1 of the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix in Buriram:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP1

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP1

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP1

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP1