The PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia marks the start of the end in the 2023 MotoGP™  Championship story. The title battle is in full swing and it's the chaser Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) who has all the momentum on his side after his Friday morning masterclass. The Spaniard's 1:59.513 came at the end of the session as the soft rubber went into his Ducati Desmosedici. The time attack put the #89 0.049s clear of his nearest competitor Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) who put in a flurry of fast laps to threaten his compatriot's spot at the top. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) made it the perfect start to the weekend's action at the Sepang International Circuit for the Pramac team as the Frenchman joined Martin in the top three with a 3rd-place finish. 

Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) led the rest of the field after the Yamaha duo shot to the top of the timesheets in the final 10 minutes. The Italian took 4th place ahead of his teammate Fabio Quartararo who rounded out the top five. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took 6th place as he finished 0.729s away from the top spot with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) just behind in P7. Next up was Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) who took P8 ahead of Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) who bagged 9th place ahead of his teammate Augusto Fernandez. 

The Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished the opening session down in 15th place. Despite showing a similar race pace to Martin on the uniform soft front/hard rear tyre combination, when the softer rubber went in the Italian was unable to muster up anything special. 

There are Q2 spots up for grabs later on as Practice for MotoGP™  is set to commence at 15:00 local time (GMT +8). With the title battle heating up, make sure not to miss any of the action on motogp.com! 

FULL RESULTS!

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