The 18th round of the 2023 season marks the beginning of the final run to the end of the campaign, with three grands prix coming up to decide the fate of the championship.
Pramac Ducati’s Martin trails reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia by 13 points coming to the Sepang round, and kicked off the weekend fastest of all in FP1.
Martin snatched top spot late on with a run on fresh medium rubber to best Marquez, who led for much of the session on his Gresini Ducati.
Bagnaia’s typically low-key approach to Friday mornings in 2023 continued in Malaysia, with the factory team Ducati rider 15th.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro kicked off proceedings with the first reference lap of the session at 2m02.066s inside the first five minutes.
Martin took over from Espargaro with a 2m00.984s a few moments later, before Alex Marquez began his stay at the head of the times with a 2m00.680s.
With just over half an hour to go, Marquez improved to a 2m00.530s, which would stand as the benchmark until the closing 10 minutes.
He would be deposed by Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, who posted a 2m00.055s on a fresh hard rear tyre.
Source: Autosport