Marco Bezzecchi topped Friday practice for the Aragon Grand Prix with a new all-time track record, beating the Ducatis of Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez.
The factory Aprilia rider set a time of 1m45.455s with just two minutes left on the clock, dethroning pre-weekend favourite Marc Marquez from the top.
Alex Marquez also managed to deliver a late improvement on the Gresini Ducati, splitting the two championship contenders in second.
The pace quickly picked up in the opening stages of the session, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta breaking into the 1m46s bracket within the first 10 minutes. This marked a significant improvement over first practice, where the fastest time was 1m47.532s.
Shortly after Acosta lowered the previous benchmark, Marquez moved the goalposts with a 1m46.320s, putting himself half a second clear of the rest of the field.
Even as rivals switched to the soft rear tyre, Marquez remained at the top of the order through the middle part of the session, 0.039s clear of an improving Bezzecchi.
It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes that the reigning world champion was displaced from the top, the returning Fermin Aldeguer setting a blistering time of 1m45.909s on the Gresini Ducati.
More improvements followed, leaving Marquez down in fifth, but the factory Ducati rider smashed his own track record at Aragon from 2025, reclaiming the top position.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Riders returned to the track in the final six minutes for their last time attack, putting Marquez’s time of 1m45.493s under threat.
With just two minutes left on the clock, Bezzecchi pipped Marquez with a 1m45.455s, putting Aprilia at the head of the order.
The factory Ducati rider had nothing left in the tank to respond, allowing Bezzecchi – who still hasn’t fully recovered from his Sachsenring injuries – to end the day as the fastest of all.
Alex Marquez rose to second amid the late series of improvements, just 0.010s shy of Bezzecchi, as the top three riders finished within just 0.038s of each other.
Nearly three tenths behind the leading trio, VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio finished as the best of the rest in fourth place, leading the Gresini bike of Aldeguer.
Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez rose to sixth at the end of the session, pipping the factory Aprilia of Jorge Martin.
Eight place went to KTM star Acosta, while Franco Morbidelli also secured a direct entry into Q2 with ninth.
Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Johann Zarco put in a remarkable lap on his return to MotoGP after a three-month injury-induced layoff, breaking inside the top 10 on his final lap.
The LCR man was the fastest rider within the Honda contingent, going fractionally quicker than team-mate Diogo Moreira and factory rider Luca Marini, who finished 11th and 12th respectively.
Francesco Bagnaia’s Silverstone troubles continued as he failed to break inside the top 10 for a second weekend running, ending up 13th on the factory Ducati.
He was closely followed by 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo, who led Yamaha’s charge in 14th.
Jack Miller was the only rider to crash in the session, an incident at Turn 2 consigning him to 19th aboard the Pramac Yamaha.
MotoGP Aragon GP – Practice results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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