Atiratphuvapat ahead in opening session at Sepang

Thai rider tops the timesheets in a damp Moto3™ FP1 session to lead Canet and Bezzecchi

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia) topped the timesheets in the opening Free Practice session of the weekend at the Shell Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the Thai rider going quickest with a 2:25.290 on a damp Sepang International Circuit to finish 0.152 ahead of Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and 0.222 ahead of title contender Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP).

Overnight rain meant a damp track greeted the lightweight class for FP1, with a lot of riders deciding to sit out the early stages. One of those was Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3), the Spaniard not emerging out of pitlane until there were just 15 minutes remaining – he ends Friday morning in P16. Back up the sharp end and it was Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) in P4, 0.348 off Atiratphuvapat, with home rider Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) completing the top five.

Wildcard Makar Yurchenko (Marinelli Snipers Team) crashed at Turn 1 – rider ok.

The Moto3™ riders will be back on circuit at 13:10 local time (GMT +8) for FP2.

Click here for the full results! 

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