Malaysian MotoGP - FP3 Results: Bagnaia misses top 10, Morbidelli penalty

UPDATE: Franco Morbidelli has been given a double long-lap penalty in Sunday's race for disturbing Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez at the end of FP3.

"This is now the third time this season you have been observed riding slow on line and disturbing other riders," read a statement from the FIM MotoGP Stewards.

The top ten after FP3 (combined times) receive direct access to the second and final part of qualifying, with title leader Francesco Bagnaia among those missing out.

Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than Friday.
= Rider is same position as Friday.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than Friday.
* 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)

Jorge Martin leads Free Practice 3 for the 2022 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, but a late fall for title leader Francesco Bagnaia means he missed the top ten and will need to take part in Qualifying 1.

Adding to the worry for Bagnaia - furious at being held up by Fabio Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli, who then pushed him out of the top ten - the likes of Johann Zarco, Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez will also be fighting for the last two transfer places in Q1.

As if that wasn't enough drama, rain arrived as the session ended.

Fast start for Bagnaia

Saturday morning's dry weather initially came as a relief for Bagnaia, who had been left outside the top ten after electing not to fit a new tyre in FP1 and then rain in FP2.

Bagnaia started on a new soft rear and blasted to the best laps of the weekend in the opening minutes, with team-mate Jack Miller mirroring his progress just behind him on track.

Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo, 14-points behind Bagnaia heading into Sunday's penultimate race, had been fastest with old tyres on Friday after also skipping a new rear.

The Frenchman soon settled in as best of the rest behind the factory Ducatis, also using a fresh soft rear (also expected to be the race tyre) combined with a medium front, which he had saved on Friday by using the less favoured soft.

But while the Ducatis were seen riding in formation for much of the session, Quartararo was furious at being held up by his team-mate Morbidelli, who was cruising on the racing line early on.

Quartararo later pitted to have something fixed in place on his left handlebar, an issue he had also suffered on Friday.

At the halfway stage Bagnaia, Miller and Quartararo ruled the FP3 roost, followed by Brad Binder's pace-setting Friday time, with Bagnaia also getting the chance to chase Quartararo for almost a lap. The pair appeared evenly matched.

Just one big game of cat and mouse @PeccoBagnaia doesn't fancy playing today #MalaysianGP pic.twitter.com/168y0VNQwm

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) October 22, 2022

Marquez targets a tow, Morbidelli in the way again

With dark clouds starting to gather, Enea Bastianini, the fourth and final rider still in mathematical contention, leapt to second place as the final 15 minutes began.

Marc Marquez then threw a tow rope around Bagnaia but couldn't improve and was pushed outside the top ten, while Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins leapt into the top five and Quartararo saved a big moment.

Marquez literally ran to his RCV in an attempt to follow Bagnaia out of the pits on the final run. The Spaniard wasn't the only one and Bagnaia, having tried to pull aside without success, was surrounded by bikes as he joined the track.

Yikes! That was close! #MalaysianGP pic.twitter.com/hZZLUY0nU3

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) October 22, 2022

Morbidelli, on an out-lap, then held up both Bagnaia and Marquez.

All of which meant the final laps began with Quartararo, Bagnaia and Marquez in the midst of a big train of riders - with the rain flags waving.

Whether Bagnaia was caught out by the drops is unclear but the Italian fell, causing gasps in the Ducati garage.

Third at that time proved little consolation as the constant improvements saw Bagnaia plummet to seventh, then pushed to Q1 by none other than fellow VR46 Academy rider Morbidelli, who set exactly the same time as Bagnaia on his last lap (but had a faster next-best lap)!

Bagnaia was seen in heated discussions with Gigi Dall’Igna as he returned to the Ducati garage, presumably angry at Morbidelli.

Morbidelli, somewhat of a frequent offender as far as obstructing others this season, may now face a penalty for the race. But unless one of his best FP3 laps is removed, it won't change Bagnaia's qualifying situation.

New benchmark from @88jorgemartin!

And now @AleixEspargaro has dragged himself into the mix! #MalaysianGP pic.twitter.com/2grjZ3LY43

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) October 22, 2022

Salvation for Espargaro and Aprilia

After a nightmare opening day blighted by technical issues and then the weather, Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro finally enjoyed some good fortune when he grabbed a tow behind Martin just as rain flags came out to secure his top ten place - fist-bumping the Pramac rider on the way back to the pits.

Meanwhile, Quartararo matched his Friday seventh behind four Ducatis (Martin, Bezzecchi, Marini and Bastianini), an Aprilia (Vinales, 3rd) and a Suzuki (Joan Mir, 5th).

His best chance of Sepang victory is to snatch the early lead and escape on Sunday, meaning Quartararo has branded this afternoon's qualifying the most important of the year so far.

But what will the weather do? Rain storms are a threat for the remainder of the day and a wet qualifying can favour those that progress through Q1. And if its dry, might the likes of Zarco and Miller be asked to tow Bagnaia in Qualifying 1?

Raul Fernandez, Pol Espargaro (twice), Remy Gardner and Fabio di Giannantonio, Cal Crutchlow and Alex Marquez all joined Bagnaia in falling this morning.

All riders set their best laps of the weekend so far in FP3.

• 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.

Pol Espargaro will have a three-place grid penalty on Sunday for 're-joining the track unsafely and creating a dangerous situation for another rider' (Johann Zarco) in FP1 at Sepang.

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