Alex Marquez Sets Record Pace to Lead Ultra-Close Practice in Japan

Alex Marquez topped the timesheets at the end of a fiercely contested Practice session ahead of the Japanese MotoGP. In an incredibly close 60-minute session at Motegi, no fewer than 18 riders were covered by less than a single second.

Leading the way was the younger of the Marquez brothers, who claimed top spot with a blistering 1:42.811 lap. His effort eclipsed Motegi's all-time lap record by exactly 0.100 seconds, previously set by Francesco Bagnaia in qualifying a year ago.

Pedro Acosta also managed to dip under the Italian's previous benchmark, finishing just 0.076s behind Marquez, while Marc Marquez completed the top three. The reigning World Champion was 0.100s off his younger brother, matching the former circuit lap record to the exact thousandth.

Marco Bezzecchi secured fourth place, with Tech3 KTM's Enea Bastianini rounding out the top five. Also sealing direct progression to Qualifying 2 at the end of Friday's running were Fabio Di Giannantonio, Fabio Quartararo, Jorge Martin, Diogo Moreira, and Johann Zarco.

Fermin Aldeguer was the first rider to miss the cut, falling short of Zarco by just 0.004s. The Gresini Ducati rider will have to battle through Q1 tomorrow alongside Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Franco Morbidelli, Ai Ogura, Bagnaia, Luca Marini, Jack Miller, Somkiat Chantra, Alex Rins, Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Maverick Vinales.

The session saw plenty of early drama, with Rins going down at Turn 3 before Marini suffered a crash at the opening corner. Moments later, Ogura's primary bike suffered an engine failure on the main straight, triggering a red flag while marshals cleared oil from the racing surface.

LCR Honda teammates Zarco and Moreira both crashed in the closing stages, with Zarco sliding off at the final corner and Moreira taking a tumble at Turn 5. Fortunately for both riders, their earlier efforts remained fast enough to preserve their spots inside the top 10.

The Japanese Grand Prix weekend, round 16 of the 2026 MotoGP season, resumes tomorrow with the 30-minute Free Practice 2, followed immediately by Qualifying to set the grid for both the Sprint and Sunday's main race at Motegi.