Brad Binder gave KTM the best time in the first free practice session of the MotoGP in Sepang. With a late attack, the South African took the narrow lead in 1:49.479 minutes.
Phillip Island winner Alex Rins (Suzuki) secured second place ahead of Marc Marquez (Honda).
In dry and muggy conditions, the majority of riders opted for the soft front and medium rear tires early in the session. Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati), who was crowned ‘Rookie of the Year’ at Phillip Island a week ago, caused an early first crash at Turn 1.
Training also got off to a rocky start for Aleix Espargaro. Only after one outlap did the Aprilia driver return to the pits. Apparently there was a problem with the motorcycle. Back on the track, he put down his machine – probably the second bike – in turn 8.
The session got off to a much better start for Quartararo, who took the lead early on and was able to hold his ground there for a long time. Only in the final minutes did the Yamaha rider drop back, also because he refrained from attempting a time attack with fresh tyres.
Suzuki delivers – Aprilia with horror results
A total of six drivers improved their times to under two minutes at the end. Binder snatched the best time from Márquez on the last lap and went 0.144 seconds faster. And Rins also pushed past the Honda driver with a late increase. He was only 97 thousandths short of Binder.
Enea Bastianini (Gresini-Ducati) finished fourth, just under four tenths back. Joan Mir completed Suzuki’s strong result with fifth place. Quartararo finished seventh behind Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati). His deficit: one second.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini-Ducati) and the two VR46 pilots Luca Marini and Bezzecchi completed the top 10. World championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who, like Quartararo, did not put on fresh tires at the end, was eleventh.
It was practice to forget for Aprilia: Maverick Vinales finished 19th with a time of 1.849 seconds. Aleix Espargaro also had to abandon his third run due to ongoing technical problems. He was only able to complete five laps in total and set a competitive lap time of 20.