Alex Marquez Clocks Record Lap at MotoGP Japan Practice
Alex Marquez topped Friday practice with a 1:42.811 lap as the top championship contenders secured direct Q2 places.
- On Friday, Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez set a new Motegi lap record of 1:42.811 to finish fastest in the Japanese Grand Prix practice session, securing a direct spot in Saturday's Qualifying 2.
- The practice session faced significant interruptions after home rider Ai Ogura's Aprilia-Trackhouse machine emitted smoke and spilled oil, triggering a red flag; Japanese wildcard Takaaki Nakagami was ruled out for the weekend following a morning collarbone fracture.
- Michelin expanded its tyre allocation to three front and three rear options for Motegi, citing caution regarding the circuit's new asphalt; Michelin Motorsport Two-Wheel Competition Manager Piero Taramasso explained the adjustment provides a margin against uncertainty.
- Championship leader Jorge Martin secured a direct Qualifying 2 spot despite finishing eighth, while reigning champion Marc Marquez also advanced; Martin holds a 12-point lead with seven races remaining.
- Returning to the site of his 2025 title triumph, Marc Marquez chases Martin's 12-point lead with seven races remaining in the 2026 season; having won five times this year, the Gresini rider faces a critical weekend.
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48 Articles
Radio France Internationale
Alex Marquez clocks record lap at MotoGP Japan practice
Marquez flew around the dry Motegi circuit in 1 minute 42.81 seconds, ahead of second-fastest Pedro Acosta, with KTM, who trailed by 0.076 seconds. "I was feeling really comfortable. Really, really good," Marquez said. "Everything was coming in a natural way." Reigning world champion Marc Marquez, Alex's brother, clocked the third-fastest time for Ducati Leonovo as he chases season leader Jorge Martin, who settled for eighth. Martin holds a 12-…
MotoGP Japanese GP: Alex Marquez heads the field at Motegi
Alex Marquez was the fastest rider on Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix, as all of the top championship contenders made it directly into Saturday's Qualifying 2 session. Home hero Ai Ogura, however, will need to go through the Qualifying 1 session in order to get his weekend back on track, as he failed to make the cut.Before the session was even 10 minutes old, there had been considerable ...Keep reading
MotoGP momentarily leaves Europe and opens the long Asian parenthesis with the Japanese Grand Prix, sixteenth round of the World Championship 2026, scheduled from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October on the circuit of Motegi. The fight for the title starts again with Jorge Martin at the command: the Spanish of Aprilia has 12 points of advantage on [...] L'articolo MotoGp Japan: in Motegi for 4 years wins Ducati : Where to see qualifications, Sprint and …
The MotoGP autumn Asian tour begins with the race in Motegi. Marc Marquez has the best memories of Japan, as he took the throne among the motorcycle elite for the seventh time on this very track last year. On the wings of his first career victory in the premier class on Sunday, Pedro Acosta is heading to Asia, looking to shake things up at the top. The first training sessions will be held at night. The race starts at 6.15 am on Sunday. Broadcast…
In the absence of seven races for the final, Martin, world champion in 2024, outstrips only 12 points (306 to 294) to the great star of this sport, a Marc Márquez looking for his eighth crown in the maximum category and the tenth in total. In a particularly open season, in which there have been six leaders of the World Cup standing in only 15 races, neither can he rule out the title fight for Italian Marco Bezzecchi, the best in the first part o…
Marc Marquez returns to scene of his greatest MotoGP triumph facing make-or-break race
Marc Marquez returns to Motegi almost exactly a year on from his seventh MotoGP title success, in the wake of the most difficult period of his career. Buoyed by the memory of that day, his Japanese Grand Prix in 2026 has an altogether different feeling about it, as his title hopes face an important test, argues Lewis Duncan…
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