Ai Ogura set the pace on the first day of practice for the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix. The Japanese rider posted the best time on Friday in the final minutes of the second session.
Marcos Ramírez (OnlyFans American Racing/Kalex) was leading after the initial flying laps, just one thousandth of a second ahead of Alonso López (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro). The first of the Spanish riders strengthened his position with subsequent attempts, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) rising to third.
While Ramírez remained out of reach at the front, Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) climbed to second, trailing by 0.125s. More changes occurred 20 minutes before the end when Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) moved up to third.
In the last five minutes, Ramírez was finally overtaken by three riders. Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex) took the lead, Acosta in second, and Arón Canet (Pons Wegow Los40/Kalex) in third. Later, Canet took the lead but couldn’t prevent being beaten by Ogura, who was 0.100s faster.
Until the end, the top positions remained unchanged. Ogura was the fastest in the practice and on Friday. Canet finished second, with Dixon in third and Acosta in fourth. Aldeguer, who set the pace in the morning session, finished fifth. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) could only manage 18th.
P2 timesheet:
Combined times P1 + P2: