No Ducati in the top 5 in Malaysia practice: Nevertheless, the riders are very optimistic – Francesco Bagnaia is also doing slightly better despite finishing 12th
No Ducati rider was among the top positions on the practice day for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Half a second behind, the VR46 duo Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli took sixth and seventh place. Otherwise, only Gresini rider Alex Marquez managed to qualify directly for Q2 in ninth place, despite two crashes.
His teammate Fermin Aldeguer and factory rider Francesco Bagnaia finished twelfth and thirteenth and will have to compete in Q1 on Saturday. However, all five Ducati riders believe that Friday’s result does not reflect the full picture.
“Yes, to be honest, today was a good day,” says rookie Aldeguer. “At least until the last ten or twenty minutes. With the rain setting in, I took a very calm approach to the last attempt, but the front tire wasn’t ready yet. That was a bit of a disaster moment.”
“But the feeling, and that’s the most important thing, was good. We were fast all day, in all conditions. I also like the track because it’s one of my favorites and suits my riding style well.” Aldeguer started the Sepang weekend with the fastest time. And despite finishing 0.6 seconds behind, Bagnaia doesn’t see the situation as bleak as it was at the last two race weekends: “Overall, it was better than at Phillip Island, but also better than in Indonesia.”
The Italian takes responsibility for not making it directly into Q2: “I messed up myself by not getting into Q2. I left the pits too late and only had two laps.”
“Under these conditions, two extra laps would have been a clear advantage. So it was my mistake,” said Bagnaia, who was less behind overall than last time. Is the stability of his bike better now in Sepang?
“Yes, a little better. But since Austria, we’ve had more movement overall, and we’re still trying to understand the cause. The feeling for the performance isn’t there yet. I can’t brake and turn in the way I want to.“
”We’re still working on that. But it’s definitely a better start than the past two weekends,“ Bagnaia emphasized after the practice day. When asked how different his bike is compared to the winter test, he replied: ”Not at all, the bike is the same.”
Di Giannantonio dreams of pole position
Behind Pedro Acosta in first place, two Honda and two Yamaha riders were in the top 5. This was an unusual result, as in recent weeks, Aprilia in particular had been the strong force at the front alongside Ducati. But in Sepang, no Aprilia made it into Q2.
“I think the Hondas are really strong,” says Di Giannantonio. “But in MotoGP, you never know. At the end of the day, we have a lot of engineers—the best motorcycle engineers ever. Everything can change from one session to the next.”
“At the moment, the guys in the top 10 don’t necessarily seem to be the ones with the best rhythm. But that can change, and maybe they’ll confirm it tomorrow. We’ll see.“ In any case, Di Giannantonio doesn’t believe Ducati is out of the running in Sepang after Friday.
”I’m satisfied because the feeling wasn’t good in the morning. I think we identified the problem quite quickly and turned the whole thing around for practice. I think we’ve worked out a good starting position for qualifying today.“
”Of course, the current setup is still causing us some problems, but we have a good chance of driving a strong lap. My personal goal is to be in the first two rows,“ says ”Diggia,” setting himself ambitious targets.
“Pole position would be fantastic, of course – with a new clock and all that – but for me it would be great to start in the first two rows. I’m confident we can do that tomorrow.”
Alex Marquez has neck pain after crash
After three race weekends, his teammate Morbidelli made it back into Q2 on Friday. The stability problems he experienced at Phillip Island seem to have been largely resolved.
“There’s still something there, but it’s much better. I’m satisfied,” confirms Morbidelli. “Today we’re at the top instead of at the bottom. Anything can happen, because we know that anything is possible in MotoGP today. But today was good.”
Despite making it into Q2, Alex Marquez had a difficult Friday. The World Championship runner-up crashed in Turn 8 in the first practice session and in Turn 2 in the second. The Spaniard suffered neck pain in the first crash, which is why he did not give any interviews.
Not the ideal start to Friday for @alexmarquez73, who is looking to secure 2nd in the Championship this weekend MalaysianGP pic.twitter.com/1JY7goHdJq
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) October 24, 2025
Gresini sent out a short statement from Alex Marquez: “It wasn’t an easy first day here in Malaysia. I think we started really well in the morning, but then we had some problems. The crash in particular set us back a bit in our work.“
”Nevertheless, I’m quite happy with our pace in the afternoon. It’s true that the track is very different from the pre-season test. The session was a bit difficult overall because I have muscular neck pain after the crash in the morning. We need to recover by tomorrow and then just keep going.”