That said, what a way to start a weekend. Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) put on an absolute masterclass on Friday at Mandalika, leaving everyone in his dust by smashing the all-time lap record with a stunning 1’28.725. The British GP winner seized control of the session in style, piloting his machine right to the top of the timesheets and leaving the rest of the field scrambling to catch up.
Now, this was far from a quiet afternoon, because the track bit back hard. The first half of the session brought some sizeable spills, starting when Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) took a tumble at the last corner. Not long after, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) suffered a fast one at Turn 9. Thankfully, both riders were okay and quickly made it back out to salvage their sessions, with Quartararo even managing to lock down a provisional Q2 spot.
Things only got wilder as the clock ticked down. Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) took a nasty, fast fall at Turn 9 that looked an awful lot like Quartararo's earlier off, leaving the rider known as The Beast stranded down in P17 and sprinting back to the pits. Meanwhile, Fernandez was simply untouchable. He lowered the benchmark to a 1’29.252 before instantly bettering it with that record-breaking 1’28.725. Out on track, the gravel traps were getting plenty of visitors. Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) binned it in a fast crash at Turn 11 that ended his day and dumped him into Q1, while Aldeguer parked his Ducati in the gravel once and for all.
When the dust finally settled and the chequered flag dropped, nobody had an answer for Fernandez. He finished 0.219s clear of Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), with the pair standing alone as the only riders to dip into the 1’28s. Behind them, Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) slotted into third, giving Aprilia a historic lockout of the top three in Practice history. Martin sat more than a quarter of a second back of his teammate, just ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in fourth.
Rounding out the top ten automatic Q2 qualifiers were Marc Marquez, Diggia, Quartararo in seventh, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) after a late Turn 16 crash, a late charge from Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), and a hard-fought salvage effort from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). That left some heavy hitters out in the cold. Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) cruelly missed the cut by less than a tenth of a second, with Rins sitting just 0.090s away. They will join Ogura, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Aldeguer, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), Moreira, and a twice-disaster-struck Bastianini in what promises to be an absolute bloodbath of a Q1 session on Saturday.
