Marco Bezzecchi
Pol Espargaro thinks Marc Marquez of Ducati made a lot of mistakes in practice at the 2026 Thailand Grand Prix, as he “especially” struggled in the braking phase on Friday.
Marquez started his latest title defence in Buriram this weekend, yet he has not had an easy time on the Desmosedici GP26 at the Chang International Circuit. The 33-year-old struggled for pace for most of the timed practice session, before pulling a rabbit out of his hat late on.
Ducati were looking at having to have both of their factory riders run in Q1 during qualifying this Saturday. But Marquez overcame his challenging session in the final minutes to deliver a 1:28.947 lap, which slotted the Spaniard into second place behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.
Francesco Bagnaia failed to match Marquez’s efforts, as the Italian finished practice down in only 15th place. The 29-year-old was even 1.298 seconds slower than Bezzecchi, who beat Marquez by 0.421s atop the timesheets as he laid down an early marker at the Thailand GP.
Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in practice at the Thailand Grand Prix. Who is your favourite for pole position?
Pol Espargaro saw Marc Marquez ‘sliding a lot’ during practice at the Thailand Grand Prix
Marquez did not look comfortable on his Ducati during practice in Buriram on Friday, as the seven-time champion is having to adapt his riding style. As he is still feeling the effects from his shoulder injury sustained in October, Marquez is using Ducati’s 2024 front aero package.
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Espargaro paid close attention to Marquez’s laps throughout practice on Friday and noticed “many errors”, which emphasised the struggles that the Ducati riders have found with race pace in Buriram. Marquez was especially struggling to stop his bike, as it was sliding “a lot”.
Espargaro said on DAZN, via quotes by Motosan: “If we look at the fastest lap, it was fast. But they were also making a lot of mistakes in race pace, and we saw that reflected in Marc’s laps with many errors, especially when stopping the bike, sliding a lot.”
Francesco Bagnaia blames set-up decisions for missing out on an automatic Q2 place in Buriram
Marquez ran off the circuit a number of times during the timed practice session on Friday, in his bid to claim an automatic Q2 spot in qualifying for the 2026 season-opening Thailand GP. Bagnaia also struggled to stop his GP26, and feels Ducati’s set-up decisions played a part.
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Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia must start his 2026 campaign in Q1, after failing to get on top of the issues Ducati encountered in practice and produce a quick lap amid the best of the conditions. Intermittent rain throughout the 60-minute session added another obstacle.
Bagnaia told MotoGP’s website: “On braking and [corner] entry, the bike was worse. And even with the conditions we had, the wind pushing on from the back in the back straight, was more difficult to stop the bike, even. So, I think we just made the wrong choice.
“But it’s part of the process. If the conditions were normal, surely we had the time to be back and improve. But it is what it is, and we just need to accept it and work better.”
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