Bezzecchi topped Motegi final practice after red flag
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 3, 2026
Saturday final practice
Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in Saturday morning final practice at Motegi, then held off a brief stoppage after Franco Morbidelli’s engine blew up and left fluid on the track. The red flag came six minutes into the session, but Bezzecchi still walked away with the top time at 1:43.321. Jorge Martin followed 0.080 seconds back in second, with Pedro Acosta third and Marc Marquez fourth. Fabio Di Giannantonio took fifth, Brad Binder finished sixth and Enea Bastianini slotted in seventh. The session gave the front-runners one more strong look at the weekend order before qualifying, and every major championship contender moved straight into Qualifying 2. Bezzecchi’s lap capped a steady run at the front after he had already shown top-end speed in earlier sessions, and the morning result kept him in the center of the Motegi conversation going into the next stage of the weekend.
Alex Marquez set record
Friday afternoon practice belonged to Alex Marquez, who produced a new all-time lap record of 1:42.811 and set the benchmark on Motegi’s newly laid asphalt. Pedro Acosta stayed closest at 0.076 seconds back in second, while Marc Marquez finished third, just 0.100 seconds behind Alex Marquez. Bezzecchi took fourth and Enea Bastianini finished fifth as the leading names kept themselves near the top of the sheet. Fabio Quartararo ended up seventh and Martin was eighth, both still well inside the group of riders who advanced directly to Qualifying 2. Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira both hit the deck late in the session, but each still stayed inside the top 10. Ai Ogura placed 15th and Francesco Bagnaia was 16th. The pace at the front came fast and tight, and the record lap underlined how quickly the field adapted to the surface at Motegi after the early track work and changing conditions around the circuit.
Marc Marquez opened Friday
Marc Marquez led Free Practice 1 on Friday morning with a 1:44.073 lap, and Jorge Martin chased him home in second, 0.099 seconds back. Bezzecchi took third and Alex Marquez was fourth, while Johann Zarco finished fifth as the top Honda rider and Quartararo placed sixth as the fastest Yamaha rider. The opening session began in damp conditions, then dried in sunshine as riders got their first meaningful running on Motegi’s newly laid asphalt. That shift mattered from the start, because the field had to read grip changes while also learning the surface. Takaaki Nakagami’s day ended early after a crash at Turn 11. He fractured his left collarbone and was ruled out for the rest of the weekend. The first session gave the paddock an early read on the track and on the riders who adapted quickest, with Marc Marquez, Martin and Bezzecchi setting the early tone before the record pace of the afternoon and the red-flagged final practice on Saturday.
