Malaysian MotoGP: Dovizioso leads Bautista in opening practice

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	#	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
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