2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Friday Practice Results
Friday practice results from the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, round 19 (of 20) in the 2024 world championship.
2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Practice Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | 1'57.679s | 16/18 | 336k |
| 2 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +0.050s | 18/20 | 329k |
| 3 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +0.198s | 18/20 | 332k |
| 4 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +0.462s | 18/18 | 331k |
| 5 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +0.617s | 19/20 | 327k |
| 6 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.624s | 18/18 | 330k |
| 7 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +0.631s | 17/17 | 329k |
| 8 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.657s | 16/18 | 332k |
| 9 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.681s | 20/20 | 332k |
| 10 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +0.683s | 18/18 | 328k |
| 11 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)* | +0.759s | 19/19 | 335k |
| 12 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +0.781s | 20/20 | 326k |
| 13 | Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +0.946s | 18/18 | 331k |
| 14 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.970s | 14/15 | 332k |
| 15 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +1.321s | 19/19 | 330k |
| 16 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +1.428s | 20/20 | 329k |
| 17 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +1.509s | 11/11 | 331k |
| 18 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +1.696s | 22/22 | 330k |
| 19 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +1.723s | 15/19 | 329k |
| 20 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +1.856s | 20/20 | 328k |
| 21 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +1.939s | 18/18 | 325k |
| 22 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +2.429s | 19/19 | 329k |
* Rookie
Official Sepang MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 57.491s (2023)
Fastest race lap: Alex Marquez 1m 58.979s (2023)
Francesco Bagnaia seizes the initiative during Friday practice for the 2024 Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang.
The reigning champion, trailing Jorge Martin by 17 points with two rounds to go, edged out the Pramac title leader by just 0.050s during the time attacks.
Martin was denied a chance to respond due to a late fall at Turn 1 but will take heart from being the fastest on used tyres, while Bagnaia had been only 11th.
Bagnaia’s team-mate and defending Sepang winner Enea Bastianini was third with Maverick Vinales best of the non GP24 riders in fourth for Aprilia.
2023 Sprint winner Alex Marquez was the quickest of the Gresinis, ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez claimed the final top ten places for direct Qualifying 2 access.
Outside the top ten and heading to Saturday’s Qualifying 1 are the likes of Pedro Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro.
Andrea Iannone finished his first day as a MotoGP rider since 2019 in 21st but within two-seconds of Bagnaia and ahead of Aprilia stand-in Lorenzo Savadori.
Before the time attacks, Martin was fastest from Jack Miller, Acosta, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco, with Bagnaia +0.5s in 11th.
Most riders used the less favoured medium front and hard rear tyres to clean the track during FP1 but switched to the preferred soft front/medium rears this afternoon.
Aleix Espargaro, Binder and Bezzecchi were among the other fallers during the session.
2024 Malaysian MotoGP, Sepang - Free Practice (1) Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | 1'58.795s | 14/15 | 333k |
| 2 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +0.743s | 14/15 | 326k |
| 3 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +1.053s | 15/17 | 329k |
| 4 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +1.452s | 14/15 | 329k |
| 5 | Pedro Acosta | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16)* | +1.560s | 13/15 | 332k |
| 6 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +1.647s | 16/16 | 330k |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +1.696s | 16/17 | 328k |
| 8 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.789s | 7/14 | 330k |
| 9 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | VR46 Ducati (GP23) | +1.856s | 15/16 | 326k |
| 10 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) | +1.915s | 16/16 | 328k |
| 11 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +1.923s | 16/17 | 327k |
| 12 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP23) | +1.974s | 11/15 | 327k |
| 13 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pramac Ducati (GP24) | +1.994s | 16/17 | 330k |
| 14 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP24) | +2.021s | 7/14 | 333k |
| 15 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +2.078s | 16/19 | 331k |
| 16 | Alex Rins | SPA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +2.163s | 15/16 | 329k |
| 17 | Johann Zarco | FRA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +2.412s | 13/14 | 329k |
| 18 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +2.553s | 15/15 | 326k |
| 19 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +2.719s | 8/14 | 329k |
| 20 | Luca Marini | ITA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +3.054s | 6/17 | 326k |
| 21 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) | +3.058s | 10/16 | 328k |
| 22 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) | +3.631s | 5/12 | 326k |
* Rookie
Official Sepang MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 57.491s (2023)
Fastest race lap: Alex Marquez 1m 58.979s (2023)
Francesco Bagnaia blasts to the top of opening practice for the 2024 Malaysian MotoGP by 0.743s at Sepang.
Aprilia's Maverick Vinales was the only rider within one second of the reigning champion.
However, the timesheets were muddled by some riders - including the top three of Bagnaia, Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi - switching to new soft front and medium rear rubber.
Others, including title leader Jorge Martin, stuck with the same medium front and hard rear tyres throughout, while some switched to new medium/hard tyres.
Andrea Iannone was among those to put the soft/medium and finished his first MotoGP session since 2019 in a brilliant 9th place!
Martin holds a 17-point lead over Bagnaia with two rounds and 64 points still up for grabs, although the status of the Valencia finale is now in doubt due to the extreme flooding.
Miguel Oliveira continues to be sidelined by fractures to his right wrist in Mandalika and is replaced at Trackhouse by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.
Iannone is replacing Fabio di Giannantonio at VR46.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
