MotoGP practice results as Marco Bezzecchi sets the pace at the Thailand Grand Prix and Francesco Bagnaia faces Q1 berth

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Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi set the pace during the timed practice session at the 2026 MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix on Friday with a new all-time lap record.

VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio had sat top of the timesheets in Buriram very early in the session whilst the conditions were still largely dry. Rain was already lingering in the air after a damp end to Moto2’s practice session, and the first real raindrops fell with 37 minutes left.

Honda rider Joan Mir sensed the imminent threat that the rain posed as the session entered the final half hour and began pushing the limits more and more. The Spaniard moving up to sixth in the timesheets was then the trigger for the rest of the field to start their time attack.

The real changes in the timesheets came in the final four minutes, though, as the field took to the track for their final time attacks. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi mastered the slightly damp Chang International Circuit the best to eclipse Di Giannantonio, with a new lap record of 1:28.526.

Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in practice at the Thailand Grand Prix. Who is your favourite for pole position?

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Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in practice at the 2026 MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix

The Thailand GP is the first race on the 22-round MotoGP calendar in 2026, yet it looked for a long time that 2025 champion Marc Marquez may have to go through Q1. Marquez failed to find performance from the off, but he finally found a quick lap inside the last 20 minutes.

READ MORE: All you need to know about the 2026 MotoGP season from calendar to riders

Ducati rider Marquez managed to improve his initial lap time just before more drops of rain started to fall over Buriram. Yet despite the conditions then starting to worsen, VR46 ace Di Giannantonio used his Ducati GP26 to reduce the benchmark even further with a 1:29.010.

But Bezzecchi had a reply for Di Giannantonio’s best time in the final minutes, during which Marquez also shot up to second place. Bezzecchi has looked fast in Buriram throughout the pre-season test last weekend, and he led Di Giannantonio by 0.110s to set the pace in FP1.

Francesco Bagnaia must go through Q1 in qualifying for the 2026 MotoGP Thai GP

While Marquez managed to finally find speed in the final minutes of practice in Buriram, his factory Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia will have to go through Q1 in qualifying for the Thailand GP on Saturday. The Italian only managed to finish Friday’s practice session in P15.

Bagnaia re-established himself among the front-runners during pre-season testing, after his miserable 2025 campaign culminated in finishing just fifth in the riders’ standings. But he failed to show that promise in practice at the Thailand GP, with his time 1.298s off the pace.

Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia is the only one of the four riders with the Ducati GP26 that will go through Q1. He will be joined by the two rookies on the 2026 MotoGP grid, LCR gem Diogo Moreira and Pramac pilot Toprak Razgatlioglu, after they finished P18 and P21.

Full 2026 MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix practice results