Acosta fronts surprise Sepang pecking order as big hitters face Q1
The KTM star leads Zarco and Miller in an unpredictable MotoGP Practice. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi, Bagnaia, Aldeguer, Fernandez and more find themselves outside the top 10!
How about that for a MotoGP Practice outing?
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) delivered the goods on Friday. He set the pace with a 1:57.559 as the #37 beat Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) by 0.019s. Meanwhile, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) rounded out the top three in an unpredictable session.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) squeezes into Q2 despite a second crash of the day. However, our last three Grand Prix winners – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) – face Q1. Oh, and so does Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing).
Acosta crashes early
Acosta was an early faller in the session at Turn 10. Thus, the #37 did not get a lap time on the board for the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, compatriot Aldeguer quickly climbed to the top of the timesheets with a 1:58.279. The rookie led Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) and Bagnaia early doors.
A frantic final 30 minutes unfold
Heading into the final 30 minutes, the top three remained the same. At this stage, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) were operating inside the top five. Alex Marquez was sixth ahead of Bezzecchi. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Zarco, and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) were the other provisional automatic Q2 attendees as things stood.
Then, rain flags were being waved. At that moment, Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) promoted himself to P5 just after we saw the white and red flags out. This move shoved Zarco into P11. However, that didn’t last long, because the Frenchman soared to P1 on his next time attack. Consequently, countryman Quartararo was demoted out of the top 10 – but the Yamaha star was setting red sectors. And sure enough, the #20 rose to top spot with a 1:58.113. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) suffered his second crash of the day – this time Turn 2 bit the #73.
Practice ramped up quickly with the threat of rain looming. Very soon after he’d crashed, Marquez found himself outside the top 10.
And then, the rain really did start to fall on some parts of the circuit…
Acosta landed a lap good enough for P6 in the nick of time. That lap shoved Di Giannantonio into the Q1 places, as every rider peeled back into pitlane with 12 minutes to go. Would there be a chance for anyone to improve? Marquez was certainly hoping so, because the rider gunning for P2 in the championship was now P14. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi and Bagnaia were sitting P5 and P10.
It looked like there would be a chance. With seven minutes to go, the MotoGP field ventured out for one final throw at the top 10 dice. It was a great first throw from Marquez. The #73 grabbed P3, meaning Bagnaia was now P11. Meanwhile, Acosta set a 1:57.559 to go half a second clear of the pack.
What did Pecco have in response? Not enough to begin with. The Italian improved but the lap was 0.048s away from the top 10. Meanwhile, Zarco and Miller jumped into the top three.
Pecco, meanwhile, was on a good lap three-quarters of the way round his last flying lap. However, four tenths went missing in the last split, and with that, it was Q1 for the 2024 Malaysian GP winner. Then, the focus turned to Aldeguer. Could the rookie find time on his last lap to gain Q2 promotion? The answer was no. The same could be said for Bezzecchi and Australian GP winner Fernandez.
All that meant the last three Grands Prix winners will be in Q1 on Saturday morning. MotoGP’s unpredictability shining through once more.
Your Friday top 10
Mir heads into Saturday in P4 behind those above top three. Meanwhile, Quartararo rounded out the top five. Di Giannantonio improved late to finish P6 ahead of teammate Franco Morbidelli. At the same time, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) once again impresses by gaining automatic Q2 entry in P8. Ninth went to Marquez, who delivered when the pressure was on. Meanwhile, Rins held onto P10 despite a late crash.
Coming up: quali and the Tissot Sprint
Simply put, don’t miss out on the Q1 and Q2 fights on Saturday morning. That’s one breathless Friday that delivered some surprising results, setting us up nicely for qualifying and the Tissot Sprint.
Results HERE as we now go full steam ahead into Saturday at Sepang.
Moto2™: Gonzalez grabs P1, Moreira 10th on Friday
With the sun coming out for Moto2™ Practice, it was Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) who ended Friday on top. Moving up to P1 with less than five minutes to go, ‘Manugas’ will hope it’s the start of a strong weekend. He aims to extend his Championship lead after it’s been whittled down in recent rounds by Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team). The Brazilian joins his title rival in Q2 directly, finishing in P10. Meanwhile, Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) completed the top three.
- Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing), Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO RCB Aspar Team), teammate David Alonso, and Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) were inside the top seven. They were all under two tenths away from Gonzalez’s pace.
- Australian GP winner Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) finds himself in Q1 after finishing Practice in P15.
Read more here and see the full Moto2 Practice results ahead of quali.
Moto3™: Rueda sets Sepang pace, Quiles faces Q1
World Champion Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) heads into the weekend as the rider to beat in Moto3. The #99 topped a delayed Practice on Friday afternoon. Rueda’s 2:11.152 was top but only 0.035s quicker than his rookie teammate and second fastest rider Alvaro Carpe. Consequently, Red Bull KTM Ajo enjoyed a perfect start to the Malaysian GP.
- Third went the way of Brian Uriarte (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP). The reigning Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion impressed on Day 1 as he continues his time subbing for David Muñoz.
- Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and David Almansa (Leopard Racing) completed the top five. Meanwhile, Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) and Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rounded out the fastest eight riders.
- Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) misses out on an automatic Q2 spot. He faces Q1 as he tries to wrap up Rookie of the Year this weekend.
- Fellow rookie Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) is also in Q1. The Italian was far from impressed with Carpe after they got into a battle at the end of Practice.
Read more here, check out the Practice results and come back for more Moto3 tomorrow.