Pol Espargaro has been issued a grid penalty for an unsafe rejoin in MotoGP Free Practice 1 in Malaysia.

The Repsol Honda rider is set to start three positions back from where he qualifies on Saturday afternoon at Sepang.

“On 21 October 2022 during the PETRONAS GRAND PRIX OF MALAYSIA FP1 session you were observed to have rejoined the track unsafely, causing a dangerous situation for another rider,” read the ‘Motive’ section of the official Notification of Sanction.

“This contravenes the specific instructions given to MotoGP competitors and teams, disrupting the session, and is considered irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors.

“It is there an infringement of Article 1.21.2 of the FIM World Championship Grand Prix Regulations.”

UPDATE: A replay shows that Espargaro rejoined just in front of Johann Zarco at the exit of Turn 8

Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder set the pace in FP1, clocking a 1:59.749s with the chequered flag out on the 45-minute session.

Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar), who won at Phillip Island five days earlier, ended up second at 0.097s off the pace, with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 0.047s further back in third.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was seventh having not opted for new Michelin tyres at the end of the session, and championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) was similarly 11th.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) ended up 14th and Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) 21st.

That session ran in dry conditions throughout, but Free Practice 2 is set to be wet considering the second Moto2 session of the day is currently red-flagged due to heavy rain.