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Spaniard breaks Motegi track record as Aussie provides laughs in Japan MotoGP practice
Ducati’s Alex Marquez set a ferocious pace to top day one of practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Spaniard lowering the all-time Motegi track record to outshine championship-contending trio Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi on Friday.
Alex Marquez, who sits eighth in the championship standings after an injury-affected campaign following his runner-up season last year, set a lap of 1min 42.811secs in the final stages of an interrupted second practice on Friday, lopping one-tenth of a second off the circuit record set by fellow Ducati rider and reigning two-time Japanese Grand Prix winner Francesco Bagnaia last year. Utilising the extra grip from a circuit that has been completely resurfaced since last year’s event, Marquez finished 0.076secs ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta,, in third, one-tenth of a second behind his younger sibling at a track where Ducati has been unbeaten since 2019.
PODCAST: Michael and Matt review a dominant weekend for George Russell at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, catch up with 2025 Bathurst 1000 winner Matt Payne, and assess the MotoGP championship picture with seven rounds remaining | Italian Marco Bezzecchi, who set the pace for the majority of the hour-long session, finished fourth, 0.218secs adrift of top spot, while his Aprilia teammate and world championship leader Jorge Martin was eighth, 0.464secs from Alex Marquez’s time and progressing to Q2 by just one-tenth of a second.
Australia’s Jack Miller, who won his fourth and most recent MotoGP race at Motegi for Ducati four years ago, was nine-tenths of a second from first place but down in 18th overall for Pramac Yamaha in an ultra-tight session where all but four riders were within one second of Alex Marquez’s benchmark time. The afternoon session was delayed for 10 minutes after home hero Ai Ogura crawled to a halt after just eight minutes, the engine in the Japanese rider’s Aprilia erupting in smoke and dumping oil on the track on the run to the opening corner.
Bezzecchi and then Marc Marquez took top spot when the time attacks began with 13 minutes remaining, with further improvements looking unlikely when Honda’s Johann Zarco crashed heavily at the last corner, causing a yellow flag.
Acosta then stole top spot with less than two minutes remaining before Alex Marquez pounced, and Martin was able to escape being mired in Q1 as Aprilia stablemate Ogura faded to 15th place, Bagnaia – who the sprint and Grand Prix in Japan last year – Miller, who missed Q2 by 0.343secs, provided some late levity when he gave Yamaha stablemate Alex Rins, whose bike had broken down, a lift back to the pits, performing a stoppie at the track’s hardest braking point at turn 11 with the Spanish rider on board.
In Friday morning practice held under leaden skies and with spots of rain throughout, Marc Marquez topped the session with his final lap of the 45 minutes, the reigning world champion setting a time of 1min 44.073secs to finish 0.099secs ahead of Martin, with Bezzecchi 0.133secs adrift in third. Local wildcard Takaaki Nakagami crashed early in the session when the track was at its wettest, the Honda rider high-siding at Turn 11 and breaking his left collarbone, ruling him out for the remainder of the weekend and requiring surgery that will see him sidelined for at least five weeks.
was 10th in Moto2 practice, the Australian advancing to Q2 with 0.131secs to spare on a day led by 2027 Honda MotoGP rider David Alonso, the Colombian topping the times with a 1:47.508 that was half a second quicker than Agius’ best. In Moto3, Australia’s Joel Kelso earned direct entry into Q2 by finishing 13th in a crash-strewn second practice, the Honda rider’s 1:55.920 six-tenths of a second behind pace-setter Marco Morelli .
Qualifying for round 16 of the 2026 season takes place at 11.50am on Saturday ahead of the 12-lap sprint race at 4pm , with the 24-lap Japanese Grand Prix set for 4pm on Sunday.
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