Marco Bezzecchi fires back to top Marc Marquez on Friday at Misano
The battle lines between the #72 and #93 machines are drawn once again at Misano. After the reigning World Champion set the pace earlier in FP1, it was none other than Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) who struck back to claim the upper hand as Friday concluded, leaving Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) trailing just behind. With both riders taking turns at the summit, the stage is set for a stunning weekend.
At the halfway mark of the afternoon session, the #72 machine sat comfortably at the top of the timesheets, flanked by Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in third. Further down the order, Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) found crucial improvements to slot into provisional Q2 spots while the rest of the field retreated to the pit lane to plot their next moves.
As the clock ticked down to the final 15 minutes, the timing screens erupted in red sectors. Zarco kept pushing his advantage, but Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) briefly grabbed the spotlight with back-to-back fastest laps. That supremacy did not last, however, as Marc Marquez soon wrestled the top spot away with a 1’30.247, landing just two tenths away from the outright lap record. With only five minutes remaining, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) climbed to fifth, Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) took sixth, and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) secured eighth. Meanwhile, World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) found himself in trouble down in P11.
'The Martinator' managed to drag his machine up into seventh with just over three minutes left on the clock. Zarco maintained his impressive pace in the top five, though both were eventually shuffled down when Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) charged into fourth. The chaos continued as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rocketed into eighth, and Morbidelli clawed his way back into fifth.
As the chequered flag loomed, Bezzecchi refused to let Marc Marquez ruin his homecoming. The Aprilia rider unleashed a 1’30.144—evoking memories of their fierce lap record trades at the 2025 San Marino GP—to finish 0.103s ahead of the #93. Alex Marquez completed the top three. Di Giannantonio took fourth ahead of teammate Morbidelli, putting smiles on the face of an in-attendance Valentino Rossi at his team's home GP. Acosta wrapped up the session in sixth, Marini claimed seventh as the top Honda, Zarco took eighth, super-sub Espargaro ninth, and Martin barely scraped into tenth.
It was a brutal session for several heavyweights. Bastianini missed out on the top ten by just 0.014s, condemning 'The Beast' to Q1 for his home grand prix. British GP winner Fernandez also suffered the shock of dropping into Q1. In total, less than eight tenths of a second covered the top 15 riders in what proved to be one of the toughest Fridays of the year. Most shockingly, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was left stranded down in P19, facing yet another trip through Q1.
Action resumes with FP2 on Saturday morning before qualifying fires up at 10:50.
