SEPANG, Nov 1 — Francesco Bagnaia was easily fastest in opening practice for the potentially decisive Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang on Friday, with title rival Jorge Martin sixth.

Spain’s Martin is 17 points ahead of Italian defending champion Bagnaia in the title race, with just one race weekend left after Malaysia.

Following torrential rain in the morning at a hot and humid Sepang, riders waited until the last few minutes of the practice session before going for it.

Two-time defending champion Bagnaia fired an early warning shot for Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s grand prix with a leading lap time of 1min 58.795secs on his Ducati.

That was easily ahead of Maverick Vinales in second, 0.743secs behind, with Marco Bezzecchi third.

Pramac Ducati’s Martin, who can mathematically clinch his first world title this weekend, was sixth-fastest with a time of 2mins 00.442secs on slower tyres.

Andrea Iannone, on his return after a four-year doping ban, was ninth.

Bagnaia won the grand prix at a wet Buriram in Thailand last week, ahead of Martin, to shave the Spaniard’s lead.

The season finale is scheduled for Valencia in a fortnight, but top riders including Martin and Bagnaia have called for the event to be moved because of deadly flooding in that part of Spain. — AFP