Bagnaia pips rival Martin at practice

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia at Sepang yesterday. Pic/AFP

Francesco Bagnaia went fastest in Friday practice for the potentially decisive Malaysian MotoGP, with title rival Jorge Martin second as he crashed out.

Spain's Martin is 17 points ahead of Italian defending champion Bagnaia in the title fight, with just one race weekend left after Malaysia. Pramac Ducati's Martin can mathematically clinch his first world crown this weekend, with a sprint race on Saturday and a GP on Sunday, but the day belonged to Bagnaia.

The Ducati ace was fastest in morning practice and trumped his rival in the afternoon too, clocking 1min 57.679sec... 0.050sec ahead of Martin, who went down with just under three minutes left in the session, skidding off his bike. He was unhurt.

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