Leaving it late but getting the job done, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was in top form with a new lap record at Motegi on Friday. The 2025 runner-up fired in a late effort to go P1 on Friday afternoon, denying Austrian GP winner Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) of another Friday to remember. Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) rounded out the top three whilst home-hero Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) finds himself in Q1 tomorrow.
UNDERWAY: brief action before a red flag
Getting underway, we only got a handful of laps under our belt before a red flag was thrown due to Ogura’s bike suffering a blow up at the exit of pitlane. A short clean up operation followed before action resumed. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was the one who led the way ahead of Acosta with Marc Marquez third after the opening 25 minutes.
HOT PACE: constant change in the top ten
As the second half of the session ignited, there were big names who were outside the top ten, including 2025 double winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) but with a flurry of red sectors, the order continued to change. The Martinator went into P2 behind Marc Marquez who had taken top spot but not for long as Acosta got into P1. Then, with just over 17 minutes remaining, it was Fermin Aldeguer’s (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) turn to lead the way but it was all set to change.
LATE CHARGES: Zarco and Moreira fast… then fall
With ten minutes to go, plenty of surprises in the top ten as Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) got into P5 behind teammate Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) whilst Enea Bastianini was into seventh and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in P10. Bagnaia put in a lap good enough for P9 but the new track surface just kept getting quicker. A lull with eight to go, the calm before the storm.
The final laps began with less than four minutes on the clock and big improvements were needed by Ogura, Bagnaia, Aldeguer and Diggia but yellow flags at the final corner for a crash from Zarco – rider OK – meant time was of the essence. A few moments later, Moreira was a crasher at Turn 5 but all fine whereas big laps did come for Di Giannantonio, the Italian moving his way into sixth by the end of the session.
YOUR TOP 10: Alex Marquez mighty for Friday honours
Elsewhere though, it was a new all-time lap record for Alex Marquez on his final flying lap with a 1’42.811 being enough to see the 2025 runner-up lead the way. With Alex Marquez top, Acosta found himself demoted late on but is just 0.076s behind and just 0.024s ahead of Marc Marquez, with exactly one tenth covering the top three on day one. Bezzecchi was a tenth further back in fourth whilst Bastianini was a strong fifth, making it two KTMs in the top five. Diggia held on for sixth ahead of Yamaha’s top star Quartararo. Martin was able to stay in the top ten with P8, ahead of Moreira and Zarco who held onto top ten spots despite late crashes. Heartbreak at home for Ogura who could only manage P15 and thus finds himself in Q1, along with Aldeguer who was only P11, Bagnaia in P16 and Marini in P17.
A fine way to end the session for Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP); the latter ran out of fuel and Miller taxis were back – this time with the passenger on the back and with Miller pulling a stoppie into Turn 11. One for the memory books for both.
Practice done, Sprint Saturday awaits – join the action from 8.35am local time (UTC +9)!
MotoGP Practice results from Motegi