Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo set a new lap record of 1:59.027 in MotoGP™ FP1 at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix to lead teammate Franco Morbidelli at the team’s home race. Fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) claimed P3 as the leading trio were split by less than two tenths.
It's a @sepangracing 1-2...at Sepang! ????@FabioQ20 and @FrankyMorbido12 give their team the perfect start on home soil as the all-time lap record falls! ????#MalaysianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/WOuH1pWPdf
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) November 1, 2019
The beginning of the session was a dramatic one for World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). A typical Marquez save occurred at Turn 2 on his second flying lap of the weekend, before his RC213V encountered a problem with just over 30 minutes remaining of the session. Meanwhile it was Viñales who was setting the pace for large parts of FP1, this was until the soft tyres were stuck in at the end of Friday morning’s action.
Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) went fastest on a soft Michelin rear before Quartararo set that new lap record, beating Dani Pedrosa’s time. Morbidelli finished less than a tenth off the Frenchman as Petronas Yamaha SRT got off to a perfect home GP start. Marquez sits 0.299 off third place Viñales as Yamaha dominate, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the top five.
No, @marcmarquez93 hasn't got lost! ????
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) November 1, 2019
The World Champion receives some scooter assistance back to the paddock after an issue out on track! ????#MalaysianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/QVutjX4Gbr
Can the Petronas duo and Yamaha keep it up in FP2? Find out at 15:05 local time (GMT+8).
Top 10:
1. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) – 1:59.027
2. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.083
3. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.191
4. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.490
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) + 0.500
6. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.519
7. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.827
8. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.866
9. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.948
10. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) + 0.969
Click here for the full results!