MotoGP: Marc Marquez leaves it late to earn a Q2 spot as four factories lock out the top four following a fabulous Friday at Motegi.
Well, that was fun. After a mad dash for Q2 in the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, there’s lots to talk about on Friday. Despite two crashes in FP1, it’s Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) who heads into Saturday as the rider to beat. The Italian denied Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) the top in Practice, with Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) claiming a late P3 after sitting outside the top 10 for most of the hour-long stint.
In addition, on the first match point weekend, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) is Q1-bound for the first time in 2025 after a P15 finish that throws a little extra spice on qualifying…
A Friday belter unfolds in Japan
After Bezzecchi’s double crash in FP1, Aprilia Racing’s Practice didn’t get off to an ideal start either as Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) went down unhurt at Turn 5, as we saw the top three from the opening session of the weekend sitting in P20, P21 and P22 with 15 minutes gone – Marc Marquez and Bagnaia sandwiching the reigning World Champion.
Midway through Practice, the factory Ducati pair had climbed the timesheets into P11 and P13, with Alex Marquez now sitting P23 and last. Elsewhere, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was setting the pace with a 1:44.044, Bezzecchi was 0.051s behind in P2, with Acosta third as Yamaha led Aprilia and KTM. Then, another crash – and it was Martin again. Turn 7 caught the #1 out this time before Alex Marquez was in the gravel at Turn 9. And at this stage, with 25 minutes to go, the #73 was still in P23.
Heading into the final quarter of an hour, both Marquez brothers and Bagnaia remained outside the top 10, but that changed as the latter leapt to P5. Up the road, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) then shot to P1 on HRC’s home turf before Bezzecchi moved the goalposts – a 1:43.623 was now the benchmark time. Not for long though. Acosta responded to beat the Italian by 0.066s, while Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) promoted himself into the top 10.
As we dipped into the final 10 minutes, Alex Marquez hauled himself into P5 and right behind him on track, Martin shot to P4. Marc Marquez’s first time attack lap, meanwhile, was only good enough for P11. Teammate Bagnaia, on his second time attack outing, went from P9 to P1, as full focus turned to the other red Ducati. Three and a half minutes left, P14… that equalled uncharted territory for the #93.
Two red splits were followed by a personal best through Sector 3, and across the line, Marquez climbed to P3 as top spot changed three times. First, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) was P1 before Acosta and Bezzecchi traded Friday afternoon honours, as we then saw the #37 KTM crash at Turn 1 to end his session prematurely.
So where did that leave us? Well, with 30 seconds to go, Alex Marquez was P13, Martin was P12 and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) was P11 – all three had set the exact same time. And on his final attempt, Alex Marquez’s lap disappeared and for the first time in 2025, the #73 was Q1-bound on a weekend where Marc Marquez had his first match point.
Were there any late changes for the top 10? Two managed to make moves: Quartararo launched a late attack to go from P15 to P8, as fellow Frenchman Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda HRC) clinched P10 right at the end of the session to demote Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to P11.
The top 10 in Japan
Mir’s brilliant late pace earned the 2020 World Champion P4 ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), an unsung hero of the timesheets on Friday, with Marini ending Practice in P6. Bagnaia slipped to P7 by the end of the session but it’s job done in terms of getting straight into Q2 for the Italian, as Quartararo, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Zarco complete 10 of the 12 Q2 runners. The remaining two will be decided in Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning.
Coming up: Tissot Sprint Saturday at Motegi
A phenomenal Friday sets us up for a sensational Saturday in Japan, as we edge closer to seeing whether it’ll be a title-winning weekend for Marc Marquez.
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