Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Free Practice (1) Results

* Rookie

Official Sepang MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 1m 58.303s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 2m 0.606s (2015)

Unofficial Sepang MotoGP lap record:
Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati 1m 58.131s (2022 testing)

Brad Binder surprises by grabbing the top spot for KTM at the end of opening practice for the 2022 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang as Alex Rins (Suzuki), Marc Marquez (Honda) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati) made it four different manufacturers at the head of the timesheets.

But Fabio Quartararo, who lost the title lead to Francesco Bagnaia by 14 points after falling at Phillip Island last Sunday and must go on the attack this weekend, was the man to beat for much of the session on used tyres.

Nightmare for Aleix Espargaro

A furious third-in-the-standings Aleix Espargaro, who has already complained of too many Aprilia mistakes in recent events and must beat Bagnaia by at least 3 points on Sunday to avoid slipping out of title contention, suffered a nightmare start to the weekend - registering just five laps.

An early technical delay was followed by an out-lap crash at Turn 8, before Espargaro returned on his other bike - but was soon raising his hand on the straight with some kind of technical problem, thought to be a warning light. That left the #41 to sit in the pits, head in his hands, as the team tried unsuccessfully to fix the problem.

Team-mate Maverick Vinales was also waving his hand, albeit in frustration, after a cornering scare on his RS-GP. Vinales later came close to tagging the back of Bagnaia on an out-lap.

Advantage Quartararo on used tyres

Quartararo kept lowering his best time to keep his Monster Yamaha up front for much of the session, his only troubles being the occasional wide moment and something bothering him on the left handlebar.

Enea Bastianini - quickest with an unofficial lap record at the February test - soon slotted his Gresini Ducati into second between Quartararo and Marc Marquez.

The lead trio remained in place until new tyre time attacks, signalled by Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin taking a new hard rear to the top by 0.438s.

Marc Marquez opted for a more conventional soft rear to pip Martin of P1, but the variety continued when Binder took a new medium to the best time of the morning on his 18th and final lap.

Binder said yesterday that he was very interested to see how much the RC16 has improved after a tough pre-season test at Sepang.

Phillip Island winner Rins was just 0.097s slower for Suzuki, with the top six within half-a-second and Quartararo - who didn't set a time attack - best of the rest in seventh.

Bagnaia, who must finish in the top five to have any chance of lifting the title this weekend, held sixth by the midway stage before finishing in eleventh (+1.291s) having also avoided new rubber. 

Newly crowned rookie of the year Marco Bezzecchi was the first faller of the weekend, sliding off his VR46 Ducati at Turn 1 after just five minutes.

Fellow rookie Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha) fell with 15mins to go.

• What result does Francesco Bagnaia need to be MotoGP champion at Sepang?

After more title chase drama in Phillip Island, Francesco Bagnaia not only leads the MotoGP standings for the first time but can be crowned champion this weekend.

A 14-point advantage over Fabio Quartararo and 27-point lead over Aleix Espargaro means Bagnaia will become Ducati’s first champion since Casey Stoner if he scores at least 11 points more than Quartararo on Sunday and loses no more than 2 points to Espargaro.

That means Bagnaia must at least finish in the top five, which would also automatically rule Enea Bastianini (42 points behind and the final rider still in mathematical contention) out of the championship fight with only the Valencia finale to go.

Takaaki Nakagami is again absent due to hand injuries from Aragon and is replaced at LCR by Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima.

Covid restrictions forced the cancellation of the Malaysian MotoGP in 2020 and 2021, meaning ten of the full-time riders have no premier-class race experience at Sepang: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

However, all riders and teams took part in official pre-season testing at the track in February.

Malaysian MotoGP full schedule (UK time)

Friday October 21

2am - Moto3 FP1

2.55am - Moto2 FP1

3.50am - MotoGP FP1

6.15am - Moto3 FP2

7.10am - Moto2 FP2

8.05am - MotoGP FP2

Saturday October 22

2am - Moto3 FP3

2.55am - Moto2 FP3

3.50am - MotoGP FP3

5.35am - Moto3 Q1

6am - Moto3 Q2

6.30am - Moto2 Q1

6.55am - Moto2 Q2

7.25am - MotoGP FP4

8.05am - MotoGP Q1

8.30am - MotoGP Q2

Sunday October 23

3am - Moto3 warm-up

3.20am - Moto2 warm-up

3.40am - MotoGP warm-up

5am - Moto3 race

6.20am - Moto2 race

8am - MotoGP race