Marco Bezzecchi made a big statement in the first competitive MotoGP session of the season as he topped practice in Thailand by almost half a second.
The Aprilia rider registered a late track record tour of 1m28.526s to put daylight between himself and world champion Marc Marquez – to the tune of 0.421s.
There was familiar misery on the other side of the factory Ducati garage, with Marc’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia failing to make the top 10 and thus missing out on direct access to tomorrow’s Q2 session.
If there was any mitigation for Bagnaia once again producing the lamentable form he showed on so many Fridays in 2025, it was the havoc the weather played with this session.
Dark clouds and spots of rain teased the competitors on numerous occasions throughout the 60 minutes, with everybody second-guessing when might be the last chance to go for a representative lap time. Hardly the perfect situation for an analytical rider like Bagnaia.
Bagnaia and Quartararo both failed to make it through to Q2
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
At various times throughout the session, riders emerged for what they feared might be a last-gasp ‘dry’ lap, throwing programmes and tyre plans off course. But while the odd damp patch came and went, the heavens never truly opened. So the circuit stayed dry enough for the usual last-minute attacks to be decisive anyway.
That said, Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) did prove the merits of an early banker lap in such conditions, with his time from the very beginning of the session enough to get him through to Q2 despite him falling at the end.
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco was the last man to make the cut, and he was joined inside the top 10 by all the expected stars apart from Bagnaia. These included Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), Pedro Acosta (KTM) Jorge Martin (Aprilia), Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Joan Mir (Honda).
KTM’s Brad Binder also had a successful afternoon in Thailand, which the South African ended eighth-quickest.
Of little surprise was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo missing out. The Frenchman, who had endured a messy morning aboard the difficult Japanese bike, was 16th-quickest and ended up one spot behind his fellow world champion Bagnaia.
MotoGP Thai GP practice results
FiP
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