MotoGP Thai GP: Marco Bezzecchi lays down ominous Friday marker

The factory Aprilia man delivered on expectations with a searing lap at Buriram

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

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	24	1'28.526		185.193
2	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	25	+0.421 1'28.947	0.421	184.316
3	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	19	+0.484 1'29.010	0.063	184.186
4	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	19	+0.659 1'29.185	0.175	183.824
5	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89	Aprilia	25	+0.703 1'29.229	0.044	183.733
6	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	23	+0.850 1'29.376	0.147	183.431
7	J. Mir Honda HRC	36	Honda	25	+0.991 1'29.517	0.141	183.142
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	23	+1.006 1'29.532	0.015	183.112
9	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79	Aprilia	20	+1.053 1'29.579	0.047	183.016
10	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	21	+1.064 1'29.590	0.011	182.993
11	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	19	+1.088 1'29.614	0.024	182.944
12	M. Viñales Tech 3	12	KTM	20	+1.097 1'29.623	0.009	182.926
13	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	23	+1.116 1'29.642	0.019	182.887
14	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	25	+1.140 1'29.666	0.024	182.838
15	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	18	+1.298 1'29.824	0.158	182.516
16	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	23	+1.358 1'29.884	0.060	182.395
17	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	21	+1.504 1'30.030	0.146	182.099
18	D. Moreira Team LCR	11	Honda	18	+1.575 1'30.101	0.071	181.955
19	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	21	+1.608 1'30.134	0.033	181.889
20	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	25	+1.776 1'30.302	0.168	181.550
21	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7	Yamaha	20	+1.839 1'30.365	0.063	181.424
22	M. Pirro Gresini Racing	51	Ducati	23	+2.911 1'31.437	1.072	179.297
View full results