{
  "id": 17202065,
  "title": "Marquez tops Sepang practice despite early crash",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/marquez-tops-sepang-practice-despite-early-crash",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T09:03:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/sports/motor-sports/2026/10/1567032/marquez-tops-sepang-practice-despite-early-crash"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia on Friday, MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez dominated the afternoon practice despite suffering an early crash. Marquez, who crashed at turn 15 but managed to return to the pit box, completed a blistering lap of one minute and 57 seconds flat, setting the pace that remained unbeaten until the session concluded.\n\nMarquez's younger brother Alex, competing for BK8 Gresini Racing, secured second place, just 0.109 seconds behind his sibling. SuperFile Trackhouse's Ai Ogura rounded out the top three, finishing 0.167 seconds behind Marquez.\n\nHowever, his teammate Jorge Martin, sidelined by a fractured right wrist, had to end his session early after accumulating less than five laps. His best time of 1:59.670s was significantly slower than Marquez's, indicating the extent of his injury setback.\n\nAprilia Racing, Martin's team, confirmed that the injured rider is currently being rested and is expected to return to action in the second free practice session (FP2) on Saturday. Martin, who had already recorded a 20th place in the first free practice session (FP1) earlier in the day, sustained the wrist injury during a crash during a sprint race at Phillip Island last week.",
  "summary": "SEPANG: MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez brushed off an early crash to top the timesheets in the afternoon practice as his injured rival Jorge Martin ended the session early at the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia on Friday.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "MotoGP: Martin’s return despite Phillip Island wrist injury adds intrigue ahead of Sepang showdown",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/motogp-martins-return-despite-phillip-island-wrist-injury-adds",
        "published": "2026-10-29T09:55:30.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Martin cuts Sepang practice short to aid recovery from wrist fracture",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/martin-cuts-sepang-practice-short-to-aid-recovery-from-wrist-fracture",
        "published": "2026-10-30T08:39:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}