Alex Marquez kicked off proceedings with the quickest time in Friday free practice for the Malaysian MotoGP, the Gresini rider heading up title hopeful Jorge Martin at Sepang.

The Spaniard shook out on top during the final time attacks towards the end of Practice, his 1m 57.823secs lap earning him a slender margin on top over Martin.

The only other rider to dip below 1m 58secs, Martin had the early edge over title rival Pecco Bagnaia, the pair coming into this weekend’s event just 13 points adrift following the Pramac Racing rider’s win in Thailand.

KTM enjoyed a strong start to its weekend with Jack Miller and Brad Binder chasing the Ducati duo up top in third and fourth, while Maverick Vinales headed up Aprilia’s challenge in fifth place on the RS-GP.

Ducati were once again the dominant force among the riders booking their place in Saturday’s Q2 directly with Luca Marini, Bagnaia, Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco in sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth respectively

Interspersed among them was 2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo in seventh place, the Frenchman the only Japanese manufacturer represented to crack into the top ten.

His team-mate Franco Morbidelli led those left on the bubble in 11th place, the Italian leading Enea Bastianini on the second of the factory Ducati Lenovo Team machines, Augusto Fernandez on the GasGas Factory Racing Tech3 KTM and Fabio di Giannantonio on the Gresini Racing Ducati.

Elsewhere, Alvaro Bautista got his much anticipated Sepang wild-card underway, the newly-crowned WorldSBK Champion - in his first event since 2018 - starting off steadily with the 22nd fastest time on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati, +2.5secs off the leading pace.