Dani Pedrosa’s best time in MotoGP™ FP1 at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix made him Friday’s fastest rider, with Aleix Espargaro and Jorge Lorenzo also in the top three – after the FP2 run was delayed and affected by rain at Sepang.
In a wet afternoon outing Lorenzo led the way from Marc Marquez, with Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro also in FP2 the top five.
But the FP1 times set in the dry are what counts on the combined timesheets which contribute to the provisional Q2 automatic participation spots. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) set a 2’01.379 lap to give him the lead in FP1.
Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) trailed by just 0.014s in second place, whilst Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was just 0.037s down on Pedrosa in third and Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was fourth in the morning run.
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team), Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) completed Friday’s top ten.