Practice report
MotoGP Malaysian GP
Malaysian MotoGP: Dovizioso leads Bautista in opening practice
Andrea Dovizioso topped the opening MotoGP practice session at Sepang, leading Alvaro Bautista and Johann Zarco in mostly dry conditions.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Oct 27, 2017, 10:29 AM
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The Ducati rider popped up in top spot right at the flag, his 2m00.671s good enough to knock Aspar Ducati's Bautista down to second.
Points leader Marc Marquez was fifth quickest, while Valentino Rossi and Andrea Iannone have both left their Q2 hopes in the hands of the weather gods after failing to make the most out of the dry running and bank a Top 10 spot.
A downpour minutes before the beginning of the session meant there was little meaningful running in the first 25 minutes. The likes of Bautista and Jack Miller enjoyed spells at the top, the times languishing back in the 2m05s as crews began to run on slick tyres.
With 15 minutes to go the big names joined the party, Mar Marquez firing to the top with a 2m03.472s. He was immediately replaced by Zarco's 2m02.841s, before Marquez fired back with a 2m01.232s, and then a 2m00.950s with just under four minutes to go.
It was until the flag that Marquez was joined in the 2m00s, Bautista initially the best of the late improvements with a 2m00.742s.
He was then knocked off by Dovizioso's late time, while Zarco slotted into third with a 2m00.807s.
Maverick Vinales improved at the flag to go fourth quickest with a 2m00.903s, which demoted Marquez down to fifth.
Cal Crutchlow was sixth, Karel Abraham seventh, and Hector Barbera eighth.
Dani Pedrosa, who struggled with a clutch problem, was ninth, with Jorge Lorenzo rounding out the Top 10.
With the weather expected to be fickle throughout the weekend, Rossi will need at least another dry practice session if he's to make it directly into Q2. The Yamaha rider was just 12th quickest, sandwiched between Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Iannone.
Michael van der Mark, standing in as a replacement for the ill Jonas Folger, was 19th quickest, 2.8s off Dovizioso's time.
Cla# RiderBikeTimeGap 1 4 
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2'00.671 2 19 
Alvaro Bautista Ducati 2'00.742 0.071 3 5 
Johann Zarco Yamaha 2'00.807 0.136 4 25 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 2'00.903 0.232 5 93 Marc Marquez Honda 2'00.950 0.279 6 35 
Cal Crutchlow Honda 2'01.060 0.389 7 17 
Karel Abraham Ducati 2'01.077 0.406 8 8 Hector Barbera Ducati 2'01.147 0.476 9 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda 2'01.162 0.491 10 99 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 2'01.189 0.518 11 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 2'01.560 0.889 12 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2'01.662 0.991 13 29 Andrea Iannone Suzuki 2'01.740 1.069 14 43 
Jack Miller Honda 2'01.803 1.132 15 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 2'01.831 1.160 16 76 Loris Baz Ducati 2'02.416 1.745 17 38 Bradley Smith KTM 2'02.469 1.798 18 45 Scott Redding Ducati 2'03.056 2.385 19 60 
Michael van der Mark Yamaha 2'03.473 2.802 20 53 Tito Rabat Honda 2'03.531 2.860 21 22 Sam Lowes Aprilia 2'03.534 2.863 22 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 2'04.381 3.710
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