Fermin Aldeguer topped MotoGP World Championship rainy Free Practice One (FP1) Friday morning at Petronas Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia. Riding his Michelin-shod BK8 Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP24, the Spaniard turned a lap of 2:00.199 around the 3.44-mile (5.54 km) track and led the 23-rider field.
Francesco Bagnaia was second-best with a 2:00.455 on his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP25.
Joan Mir was third with a lap of 2:00.548 on his Honda HRC Castrol RC213V.
Classification FP1 MOTOGP
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Aldeguer heads Bagnaia in rainy Sepang FP1. It started out dry before the heavens really did open in a big way with just under a quarter of an hour remaining.
Sepang always brings four seasons in one day but in the case of MotoGP FP1, it was in one session. Sunshine at the start before cloud cover and a rain shower with 15 minutes to go meant that all the fastest times were set long before the chequered flag. Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) took top honours, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team).
Aldeguer’s 2’00.199 came on his sixth lap of ten in the session, putting him a quarter of a second clear of Bagnaia in second. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) secured third place and was just 0.033s ahead of KTM super-sub Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), who continues to deputise for fellow countryman Maverick Viñales. Winner of the last two Sprints, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the top five.
Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) made it two Hondas in the top six ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who crashed at Turn 7. The runner-up elect lost the front but was able to get back up and ride back to pitlane. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) rounded out the top ten. Acosta had a crash at Turn 2 in the dry conditions but was able to remount and get back to the pits.
Track action continued as usual and a flurry of riders went out at the end of the session. Quartararo and Australian Grand Prix winner Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) had big moments at Turn 12 whilst Espargaro had had a front-end twitch into Turn 9. All riders who ventured out managed to stay upright as they got their first look of Sepang in the wet, crucial in the event of continued unpredictable conditions this weekend.