Alex Marquez broke Motegi lap record to lead Friday MotoGP practice
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 2, 2026
Alex Marquez led
Alex Marquez led Friday’s second MotoGP practice at Motegi with a 1 minute, 42.811-second lap that set a new all-time lap record. Pedro Acosta pushed him all the way and finished second, 0.076 seconds back. Marc Marquez took third and kept the top three tight at the front of the sheet. Marco Bezzecchi was the leading Aprilia rider in fourth, and Enea Bastianini followed in fifth. Fabio di Giannantonio found a late top-10 position, Fabio Quartararo was the fastest Yamaha rider in seventh and Jorge Martin finished eighth. Francesco Bagnaia ended up 16th and had to go through Q1. The order left a mix of established front-runners near the top and a few big names forced to chase more later in the weekend.
Red flags hit Motegi
The second practice also included several interruptions. A red flag stopped the action after Ai Ogura’s Trackhouse Aprilia left fluid on the track. Earlier in the run, Alex Rins crashed and Luca Marini also went down. Diogo Moreira crashed late in the session and Johann Zarco also crashed before the day was over.
Nakagami ruled out
Takaaki Nakagami was ruled out for the rest of the weekend after a Friday crash left him with a collarbone injury. Maverick Vinales also finished last on his return. The session therefore ended with Alex Marquez at the top and Vinales at the bottom.
