MotoGP Malaysia FP2 LIVE: Bagnaia and Martin play cat and mouse in Sepang! Quartararo 3rd!

What would ultimately and fortunately be the penultimate round of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, saw a first day that was completely dominated Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), double world champion MotoGP in title and challenger this year of George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), only 17 small points ahead in the general classification.

Crushing the field by 7 tenths in FP1 thanks to the use of the softest tires, the official Ducati saw his only opponent for a new crown come back to 5 hundredths in the afternoon despite a small slide, thus indicating to him that the task of regaining the lead of the championship was not going to be easy, especially since if George Martin always finishes 2nd behind Pecco, the Spaniard will still be world champion by one point!

In a session where we had not seen the Yamaha in such good shape for a long time, Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Maverick Vinales, Alex Márquez, Fabio Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Marc Márquez won their direct access to Q2 during Practice, leaving Pedro Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco and Brad Binder explain themselves among themselves to try to get back into Q1.

Another focus of this Malaysian meeting, Andrea Iannone didn't do too badly at all, following on the heels of drivers like Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini or Joan Mir...

Pre-qualifying Practice Ranking: 

While waiting to discover more, as the 22 riders prepare for this second 30-minute free practice session, under a sky covered by a very light shower during the Moto2 session, and with morning temperatures of 29° in the air and 33° 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)	1'57.679 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
FP2	1'58.960 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'58.658 Francesco Bagnaia (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... Francesco Bagnaia et Marc Márquez are the first to rush forward, fabio quartararo the last one, as usual.

On the tire side, everyone is on medium at the rear, while at the front the majority use the soft. Jorge Martin and Luca Marini who have opted for the medium.

At the end of the first flying round, it is fabio quartararo which displays a first reference in 1'59.646 in front of Pedro Acosta, Jorge Martin and Augusto Fernandez.

In the next passage, Enea Bastianini places the bar in 1'59.099 in front Jack Miller, Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez, Augusto Fernandez and the two Yamahas.

Jack Miller takes over in 1'58.922, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli.

Just before mid-session, Fabio Quartararo takes command in 1'58.850, followed in the table by Jack Miller, Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli, Jorge Martin, Alex Márquez, Marc Márquez, Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales, Augusto Fernandez, Raul Fernandez, Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder, Joan Mir , Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini, Andrea Iannone and Lorenzo Savadori.

In a different timing, Francesco Bagnaia is on track while most of the riders are in their boxes. The official Ducati first takes the lead in 1'58.840 then improves to 1'58.658.

On track, Francis Bagnaia is followed like his shadow by George Martin, then, after a while the order reverses, the Pramac rider taking the lead before giving it up again to Pecco : we size each other up, with an air of defiance. Who will crack first?

In the last five minutes, Pedro Acosta rises to second position, Maverick Vinales in third place, fabio quartararo in fourth.

George Martin, which once again serves as a focal point for Francis Bagnaia, achieves the second time before cutting to let his opponent pass.

In extremis, fabio quartararo lights the third sector in red and moves up to third place.

Now for the qualifications!

Results of Free Practice 2 of the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP2

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP2

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP2

MotoGP Malaysia Sepang FP2