The tropical temperatures and the high humidity have, as always, put riders and bikes to the test on the first day of practice at Sepang in Malaysia. Despite this, the good track conditions let the riders lap in extremely interesting times.

At the end of the day, Aleix Espargaró confirmed his and the Aprilia RS-GP’s good trend, shaving off more than a tenth between the two sessions and finishing ninth in the combined standings. This is a result that provisionally sends him straight through to Q2.

On the other hand, a few technical problems slowed down the work in Andrea Iannone’s box and he was able to lap less than expected, also due to a crash in FP2. After ruling out any physical consequences, the Italian rider will pick up where he left off tomorrow in preparation for the race, with a positive note: the good pace he demonstrated on a used tyre.