Malaysian GP: Bagnaia ends the first day of free practice at Sepang in 11th position after going second in FP2 in mixed track conditions. Miller 14th
Francesco Bagnaia finished with the 11th fastest time overall in Friday's free practice for the Malaysian GP, the penultimate round of the 2022 MotoGP season held this weekend at Sepang International Circuit. As he finished eleventh after a dry FP1, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider closed second FP2 held in mixed conditions after a heavy tropical downpour hit the circuit during the Moto2 session.
After a first part of the session held in the wet, MotoGP riders were able to mount slicks on the final minutes of FP2, but the track conditions did not allow changes to the combined timesheets, which therefore remained unchanged from the morning. Jack Miller, fourth in FP2 despite still sore after last Sunday's crash at Phillip Island, also finished 14th on the first day. The Australian rider, as well as his teammate, did not make the time attack in the morning's dry FP1, preferring to continue running on used tires, and hopes to find favourable weather conditions to try to improve tomorrow morning in FP3.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 11th (2:00.770)
“I am quite calm after this first day, despite finishing only 11th, three thousandths from the top ten. Unfortunately, on the last lap, I made a mistake coming out of Turn 9, losing a lot of time. I hope to be able to find the right conditions in tomorrow's FP3 to try to get into the top ten. It will be important here, especially if qualifying should be wet. In any case, I am positive: our potential in the wet has grown a lot, and that makes me optimistic.”
Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 14th (2:01.034)
“I knew it wasn't going to be easy because the bruises I got on my leg in the Phillip Island crash are in a place where I put a lot of pressure riding the bike, and I feel a lot of pain. In any case, I was able to improve lap by lap. This morning we didn't try the time attack, so after the rain fell this afternoon, we are out of the top ten. Hopefully, tomorrow morning's FP3 will be dry and will allow us to improve our time. In general, I feel comfortable on the bike. I am just a little worried about Sunday's race which will be physically very demanding.”
The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow at 10:50am local time (4:50am in Italy) for FP3, while qualifying for the Malaysian GP will be held from 3:05pm local time (9:05am in Italy) after FP4.