Francesco Bagnaia set the pace on Friday as he topped both Practice sessions in Malaysia and beat Jorge Martin to top spot.
At the end of Day One in Malaysia, Francesco Bagnaia topped both Practice sessions at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider must beat Jorge Martin this weekend if he wants to stay in title contention.
The Italian had not had a perfect Friday since the Dutch Grand Prix earlier this season before he won both the Sprint and Grand Prix at Assen. Bagnaia worked hard on new tyres in a time attack and on used tyres for his race pace.
"Happy, happy, because only in Assen have I done the same, so I am very happy," Bagnaia told MotoGP.com.
"I think we managed to do a very good job, in the morning we decided to use a new tyre for our last run. Then started the afternoon with the same tyre, but we started in a worse situation. We did a good job on used tyres and we did a very good job in terms of the time attack. The first attempt was not that good, but the second was so I am happy and we need to continue in this way."
'It was important to do laps and complete almost race distance.'
Bagnaia emphasised how important it is to work out the rear tyre wear at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit. The two-time MotoGP Champion put near enough race distance on his rear tyre across the two Practice sessions.
"We know how difficult on the rear tyre this track is," Bagnaia stated. "We just wanted to start in the best situation possible with the very hot temperature this afternoon. As soon as we started the level of grip was lower than in the morning. It was important to do laps and complete almost race distance on the rear tyre and I think it was the correct choice."
In the morning Free Practice session Bagnaia and Martin ran into each other on track. The Spaniard decided to sit behind Bagnaia to try and learn something from the Italian. However, Bagnaia was not willing to teach Martin anything.
"They decided to start behind me, I don't know why," Bagnaia said when talking about Martin. "But I saw it and I didn't want to push because we are in a moment when it is better to think alone."
