MotoGP arrives at Sepang in Malaysia fresh from an Aprilia double at Phillip Island - courtesy of Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez - but with Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin and Maverick Vinales still sidelined by injury.
Marc Marquez is again being replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, Martin by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori and Vinales by KTM test rider Pol Espargaro.
Alex Marquez is comfortably on course to wrap up a historic Marquez one-two in the world championship this weekend, holding a 97-point advantage over next-best Bezzecchi. Just 74 points will remain after this weekend.
The Gresini rider is a former Sprint winner at Sepang and topped February’s official pre-season test.
Last year’s Sepang pole and grand prix winner Francesco Bagnaia has faded to fourth overall on his factory Ducati after back-to-back misery at Mandalika and Phillip Island.
Martin won last year’s Sprint and was runner-up to Bagnaia in the grand prix, after a thrilling early duel between the then title rivals.
Meanwhile, Augusto Fernandez is back this weekend to give the new Yamaha V4 its second wild-card appearance of the year, after a 14th place at Misano in mid-September.
Pedro Acosta and KTM set the pace on an unpredictable Friday, ahead of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller.
Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia, Fermin Aldeguer, Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez were among those to miss out on the top ten, sending them into Qualifying 1.
Saturday schedule:
10:10am (local) / 03:10am (UK) - MotoGP FP2
10:50am (local) / 03:50am (UK) - MotoGP Qualifying
3:00pm (local) / 8:00am (UK) - MotoGP Sprint
Pole position in Malaysia for Francesco Bagnaia is his second in four races, but also his first top-10 qualifying since his previous pole in Malaysia.
Second place for Alex Marquez gives him a strong shot at victory in both the Sprint and grand prix, given his pace, and also given the poor qualifying for riders such as Luca Marini.
Full Malaysian MotoGP qualifying report here.
Francesco Bagnaia takes pole position, despite fighting through Qualifying 1, for the 2025 Malaysian MotoGP.
Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli complete an all-Ducati front row.
Fabio Quartararo was on course for pole until the very final sector, when it slipped away.
The chequered flag is waving, but Quartararo and Acosta are on good laps...
Franco Morbidelli creates an all-Ducati front row by taking third, pushing Quartararo to 4th ahead of Acosta and Mir on what is currently row two.
Alex Marquez, looking to seal second in the world championship this weekend, surges to second place behind Bagnaia.
1min to go.
Pedro Acosta, currently 3rd, is on the ground at Turn 1.
Interestingly, lap times are a long way off qualifying last year, when Bagnaia set a 1m 56.337s for pole.
Boom! Bagnaia sets a 1m 57.001s to snatch provisional pole away from Quartararo by 0.194s. A great lap by the Ducati rider.
The riders pit for new rubber, the order so far:
Bagnaia is yet to do a time-attack in Qualifying 2, due to the number of new tyres available.
But not for long.
Qualifying ace Fabio Quartararo wrings a 1m 57.195s from his Yamaha to push 0.168s clear.
That's still slightly slower than Aldeguer in Qualifying 1, so this probably isn't over...
Joan Mir is on a charge for HRC, slots into second between Acosta and Zarco on his second flying lap. Two RC213Vs on the front row!
The first flying lap ends with Pedro Acosta fastest from Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli.
The 15-minute Qualifying 2 session is underway.
Riders:
Fermin Aldeguer managed to get his crashed Gresini Ducati back to the paddock.
But as he was riding the bike side-saddle towards the back of the Gresini garage, he lost control, toppled over and almost wiped out team manager Michele Masini as the GP24 crashed to the ground again.
The mechanics had their hands on their heads in shock as the incident unfolded, while Masini's reflexes meant he narrowly avoided being hit.
Fortunately, no-one was hurt but the head-on impact with the wall means the bike is probably out of action.
The chequered flag is out, there are no improvements.
Fermin Aldeguer and Francesco Bagnaia progress to Qualifying 2 but Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi will start just 13th and 14th on the grid.
Qualifying 1:
Riders have been told not to try and rejoin if they crash at the end of qualifying, to avoid yellow flags wrecking the laps of other riders. But it means Aldeguer had to abandon his machine and walk away.
Aldeguer crashes at Turn 4! He's fastest but the yellow flags will impede others from beating him. The problem for the rookie is that he might not have his number one bike for Qualifying 2.
Aldeguer sets a perfect sweep of 4 red sectors and puts his GP24 fastest by 0.042s from Bagnaia.
1min to go.
Gigi Dall’Igna nods in approval at Bagnaia's time, but Bezzecchi is under pressure.
Aldeguer is 4th but on course to improve...
Both Bagnaia and Bezzecchi set red sectors... Bagnaia jumps from 3rd to 1st and Bezzecchi from 5th to 3rd..
The other riders are on their out lap.
Here we go, 5mins on the clock and Bagnaia and Bezzecchi are among those starting their all-important final run. Their podium chances could depend on the next few minutes.
The riders pit before the final run, some tense looks in the Ducati pits as Bagnaia explains what the GP25 is doing, order so far:
Marini strikes back! The Honda rider pushes 0.064s clear of Aldeguer.
Aldeguer grabs the initial advantage from Bagnaia, then it's Raul Fernandez and Marini.
