MotoGP started the first weekend of the season with a strong message from Aprilia. This Friday, in Buriram, Marco Bezzecchi clocked 1min28s526 and set a new official track record in the Practice session, beating the mark he himself had set in testing and increasing the pressure right at the start of the championship. With clouds appearing and the risk of rain at the end of the activity, the session was tense and shuffled the positions, especially for the Ducati riders.
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Bezzecchi’s time put the Italian comfortably in the lead, opening up about four-tenths over Marc Márquez, who managed to react in the final stretch and finished second. The most striking detail of the day, however, was seeing Francesco Bagnaia outside the group that advances directly, finishing only 15º and being forced to compete in Q1 on Saturday. While Márquez saved the Ducati Lenovo at the end, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio who completed the top 3, securing a place in Q2.
Aprilia also had a solid performance with Jorge Martin. The rider finished the session in fifth, confirming that he is already competitive right at the opening of the year. In the morning, Martin suffered a small crash, but, according to the report, “no drama,” and returned to work normally. Overall for the day, Bezzecchi and Martin appeared within the top 5, reinforcing the team’s good start.
Marc Márquez experienced a session of ups and downs. He spent a considerable part of the Practice outside the top 10 and caused some concern, but with about 20 minutes to go, he climbed to fifth and then made the definitive jump to second, escaping the pressure at the limit. Bagnaia, on the other hand, showed speed in some sectors of the lap, but didn’t put the full lap together and ended up outside the main group, which increases expectations for his reaction in Q1.
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Among the closest competitors, Di Giannantonio drew attention for leading a large part of the Practice and for recording his best lap at the end of a stint, suggesting consistency beyond just one-lap pace. Pedro Acosta put the KTM in the top 4 and set his best time on the penultimate lap, finishing 0s659 behind Bezzecchi. Brad Binder finished eighth, also securing a direct spot in Q2 by improving in the final part of the session.
Alex Márquez finished sixth, just ahead of Joan Mir, who was the best Honda representative. Ai Ogura, despite securing the ninth fastest time and a spot in Q2, ended the session early after crashing at Turn 7 with just over two minutes remaining, but was described as “ok.” Johann Zarco completed the list of direct qualifiers, while Saturday already promises the spotlight on Q1 with Bagnaia trying to turn things around.
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