Berliner Tageblatt - Marquez crashes, then tops second practice in Malaysia

The MotoGP championship leader had earlier skidded onto the gravel on lap five, but was soon back on his Ducati to blitz the scorching Sepang circuit on lap 13, where he clocked 1min 57.000secs.

The 33-year-old Spaniard had also topped the timesheets in the morning session, and will be among the 10 fastest riders heading into Saturday's second qualifying session.

"Apart from the small crash on turn 15, that is where I'm taking more risk, the rest was perfect," said Marquez, whose Championship chasing rival Jorge Martin is not part of that top 10 list.

The Aprilia star only managed three laps in the afternoon stint compared to 12 in the morning. Martin posted a best lap time of 1min 59.670secs to finish in 21st place.

The injured Martin opted to save his energy for the grueling weekend ahead, after getting the green light to compete in Sunday's main race.

"We've decided that Jorge won't continue for the rest of the day. We'll see how he is tomorrow morning," Aprilia Racing Team manager Paolo Bonora told motogp.com.

Martin, who fractured his right arm in last weekend's sprint race at the Australian Grand Prix, was cleared to race on Sunday as he tries to reduce Marquez's 10-point championship lead with four rounds remaining.

Martin's Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi, third in the standings, was among the 10 fastest on Friday.

Saturday's second qualifying will also feature the two fastest riders from the first qualifier.

J.Fankhauser--BTB