Bezzecchi blasts to top spot on Friday

Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in a wild Friday Practice at Phillip Island, leading an Aprilia one two in a session featuring red flags, crashes and a wallaby on track

Marco Bezzecchi topped Friday Practice at Phillip Island with a superb late lap of 1:26.77, putting Aprilia Racing at the head of the field after a dramatic and unpredictable session. Raul Fernandez made it two Aprilias inside the top two, just 0.072s away, while Marc Marquez completed the top three for Ducati Lenovo Team at 0.126s from the benchmark.

Phillip Island delivered a classic Friday session with shifting conditions, gusting wind and even a red flag caused by a wallaby on track at the 42 minute mark. The interruption added to an already chaotic afternoon as riders chased direct passage into the key positions on the timesheets.

Jack Miller was one of the first riders to hit trouble, crashing early in the session in what was his second fall of the day as the Australian pushed to secure an early fast lap. Johann Zarco initially led the way before Marc Marquez moved to the top with a 1:28.317, showing strong speed and comfort around the fast flowing circuit.

As the pace intensified, Jorge Martin and Pedro Acosta lapped together and both improved. Acosta then produced one of the standout moments of the session, sliding the rear spectacularly through Turn 3 on his way to a 1:27.208 that briefly put him fastest. Martin also looked sharp in the closing stages, especially on fresh tyres, setting the fastest third sector before moving into second at that stage and eventually ending the session fifth.

Bezzecchi then underlined Aprilia’s strength by laying down a 1:27.374 to go clear by a quarter of a second before the final flurry of time attacks. Later, with the session reaching its climax, Marc Marquez first lowered the target to 1:27.114 and then to 1:26.901, threatening to become the first rider into the 1:26s. But the final word belonged to Bezzecchi, who responded with a 1:26.775 to reclaim top spot in the final minutes.

There was no shortage of incidents. Augusto Fernandez crashed at Turn 11 while deputising for the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu despite carrying an injured shoulder himself, capping an expensive day for Prima Pramac Yamaha. Last year’s sprint winner Raul Fernandez also went down, though he still recovered impressively to finish second overall. Alex Marquez later lost the front at Turn 4 in the closing minutes, bringing out yellow flags just as the timesheets were rapidly changing.

Ai Ogura continued his strong form for Trackhouse and also benefited from the speed of the Aprilia package, recording a top speed of 360 km/h down Gardner Straight with help from Phillip Island’s stiff tailwind. He finished fourth on the same 1:26.90 as Marc Marquez, classified behind only on the order of setting the lap. Martin rounded out the top five to cap an encouraging session for Aprilia.

There was also an impressive effort from Iker Lecuona, the WorldSBK rider stepping in for Fermin Aldeguer. He climbed as high as eighth during the session, survived a moment running wide at Turn 1 and ultimately finished 16th, a respectable result given the circumstances.

Behind the top five, Alex Marquez took sixth for Gresini Ducati ahead of Enea Bastianini, Pedro Acosta, Diogo Moreira and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Johann Zarco ended the day 11th after his early spell at the top, while Francesco Bagnaia could only manage 14th and Fabio Quartararo was 15th.

2026 PHILLIP ISLAND MOTOGP FRIDAY PRACTICE