Sepang International Circuit is this weekend playing host to the penultimate round of the 2019 season. The Malaysian track welcomed the riders for a hot and humid opening practice day.

In FP1 the riders took the opportunity to get to grips with areas of the track which have been resurfaced, as well as assessing the overall feel following overnight rain. They then aimed for longer, consistent runs. Alex Rins completed FP1 in 6th place, while Joan Mir was 11th.

FP2 saw Rins topping the session early on. The Spaniard kept up this quick pace for the vast majority of the afternoon, holding 1st or 2nd place. Similarly, Mir was chipping away and improving his pace lap by lap, featuring as high as 5th in the very competitive session. At the chequered flag, Rins was 10th and Mir 11th. On combined times they are 7th and 12th respectively.


Davide Brivio - Team Manager:

“We feel positive today. I’m happy to see that Alex has very good pace and he was consistent in both sessions, and within the Top 10. Joan also did well and showed promising pace, he was just outside the Top 10, but he did useful work and we found some good settings. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”

Alex Rins:

“Today was quite good, I was able to put in some strong lap times and demonstrate good race pace. I tried the medium and the soft tyres and I feel quite comfortable. The aerodynamic package we have is helping compared with last year, especially on the straights. I really hope to be on the front row tomorrow, but if not then I need to be on the 2nd row. I’m looking forward to the race already."

Joan Mir:

“Well, I didn’t improve much between the used tyre and the new one, where the other riders improved a lot. I know I need to make a step tomorrow to ensure that I can have a good qualifying, I want to be on the front couple of rows. The conditions are hard, I feel so hot on the bike, it takes some getting used to. But overall I feel good, and ready for tomorrow.”

GP of Malaysia - Combined Classification after Day 1:

1. F.QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:58.576 (FP2)
2. F.MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:59.110 0.534 / 0.534 (FP1)
3. A.DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1:59.206 0.630 / 0.096 (FP2)
4. M.VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:59.218 0.642 / 0.012 (FP1)
5. V.ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:59.284 0.708 / 0.066 (FP2)
6. M.MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1:59.517 0.941 / 0.233 (FP1)
7. A.RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:59.546 0.970 / 0.029 (FP1)
8. J.MILLER Pramac Racing 1:59.593 1.017 / 0.047 (FP2)
9. A.ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:59.707 1.131 / 0.114 (FP2)
10. C.CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 1:59.711 1.135 / 0.004 (FP2)
11. F.BAGNAIA Pramac Racing 1:59.774 1.198 / 0.063 (FP2)
12. J.MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:59.984 1.408 / 0.210 (FP2)
13. D.PETRUCCI Ducati Team 2:00.057 1.481 / 0.073 (FP2)
14. J.ZARCO LCR Honda IDEMITSU 2:00.268 1.692 / 0.211 (FP2)
15. K.ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing 2:00.477 1.901 / 0.209 (FP2)
16. P.ESPARGARO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2:00.658 2.082 / 0.181 (FP2)
17. J.LORENZO Repsol Honda Team 2:00.705 2.129 / 0.047 (FP2)
18. A.IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2:01.172 2.596 / 0.467 (FP1)
19. H.SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 2:01.579 3.003 / 0.407 (FP1)
20. M.KALLIO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2:01.959 3.383 / 0.380 (FP1)