Marquez Brothers Set the Pace in Malaysia as Martin Runs Just Four Laps

Marc Marquez topped the timesheets once again in Friday's Practice session at Sepang, completing a clean sweep on the opening day after leading FP1 ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard clocked a benchmark time of 1:57.000, edging out his younger brother and last year's Malaysian GP winner Alex Marquez by 0.109 seconds. Trackhouse Aprilia's sole representative this weekend, Ai Ogura, completed the top three, just 0.167 seconds off the pace.

Pedro Acosta and Fabio Di Giannantonio secured fourth and fifth, trailing Marc Marquez by 0.380s and 0.454s respectively. The remaining automatic Q2 spots went to Marco Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini, Maverick Viñales, Franco Morbidelli, and 2020 World Champion Joan Mir, who impressed on his return from a lengthy absence.

Johann Zarco was the first rider to miss out on the top ten after a Turn 7 crash with under three minutes remaining wrecked his chances of advancing straight to Q2. The Frenchman ended up 0.187s adrift of Mir and will face the opening phase of qualifying on Saturday.

Joining the LCR Honda rider in Q1 will be Francesco Bagnaia, Diogo Moreira, Alex Rins, Iker Lecuona, Jack Miller, Luca Marini, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo, Augusto Fernandez, and Jorge Martin. "The Martinator" completed just four laps during the hour-long session, opting to manage his physical condition ahead of the crucial remaining sessions of the weekend.

Zarco was not the only rider to hit the asphalt at Sepang; Miller, Marc Marquez, Bastianini, and Bagnaia all suffered falls during the 60-minute session. While Miller and Marquez went down in the earlier stages, crashes for Bastianini and Bagnaia came in the dying minutes.

The Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, round 19 of the 2026 MotoGP season, continues on Saturday with the 30-minute Free Practice 2 session, followed immediately by Qualifying to set the starting grids for both the Sprint and Sunday's main race at Sepang.