Marc Marquez controlled both Friday practice sessions at Sepang and secured a direct place in Saturday’s Q2. The Ducati rider posted a 1:57.000 in the second session, arriving in Malaysia with a 10-point championship advantage.

The leading positions were separated by very little, with 0.167 seconds covering the top three. Alex Marquez took second, while Ai Ogura was third and the fastest Aprilia rider on the Trackhouse RS-GP. Marquez did not use a second new rear tyre on his final run, leaving room for a potentially quicker lap.

Pedro Acosta led the KTM contingent in fifth, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Marco Bezzecchi was sixth on the factory Aprilia, followed by Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales in seventh and eighth. Those results put three KTMs straight into Q2.

Franco Morbidelli was ninth and Joan Mir 10th, completing the group of direct Q2 qualifiers. Jorge Martin, meanwhile, withdrew from the final session after only a few laps and will have to go through Q1 if he continues into the rest of the weekend. Francesco Bagnaia also missed the top 10 after a late crash on his factory Ducati.