MotoGP practice results as Pedro Acosta fastest at Hungarian Grand Prix but Francesco Bagnaia in Q1

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Pedro Acosta set a blistering pace during practice at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix to top the timesheet, but Francesco Bagnaia will need to go through Q1 at Balaton Park.

Even Yamaha showed more pace than Bagnaia managed during practice this Friday, despite the fast times that his fellow Ducati riders achieved. Pramac’s Jack Miller hauled his YZR-M1 into the top 10, but he lagged 0.933s behind Acosta despite being 0.520s off second place.

Ducati’s reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez set the pace during FP1 at Balaton Park earlier on Friday, with his fastest time in the opening practice session a 1:38.626 lap. Acosta smashed Marquez’s marker as he set a 1:36.827, while the Ducati rider settled for seventh.

Pedro Acosta set a dominant pace in practice at the Hungarian GP 😮‍💨 Who will join the top 10 for Q2?

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Pedro Acosta sets the pace in MotoGP’s timed practice at the 2026 Hungarian GP

Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer set the early benchmark pace during the timed pre-qualifying practice session at the Hungarian GP aboard his Ducati GP25. The 21-year-old had enjoyed a strong finish to secure P4 in FP1, and he picked up where he left off by posting a 1:38.162.

KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aprilia pair Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi also soon settled in while the focus in practice was not on flying times. But it was not long before Marc Marquez joined the party, as the Ducati rider climbed into third place, despite the blustery conditions.

The amount of wind blowing around Balaton Park at the start of practice also caused a flurry of riders to run off the road. Despite the conditions, Pramac ace Toprak Razgatlioglu showed he may contend for the top 10 in the Hungarian GP, as he again emerged as the top Yamaha.

Bezzecchi was also on the move as the middle of the session neared, as the Aprilia rider ate into Aldeguer’s advantage. The 2026 championship leader initially got within 0.134s, before slashing the Spaniard’s margin at the top to only 0.013s amid the first flurry of faster times.

Ai Ogura also showed the Aprilia RS-GP’s potential around Balaton Park, as the Trackhouse racer climbed into the top four. But the honour of eclipsing Aldeguer went to Acosta of KTM by 0.421s with the first 1:37 lap at 1:37.741 – despite teammate Brad Binder sitting in P21.

Binder soon followed Acosta’s lead to climb into P9, but the Spaniard was going even faster as he set a 1:37.418 as Bezzecchi moved into second. Jack Miller was also on the move with his Yamaha M1, as the Pramac racer joined Razgatlioglu on the cusp of the top 10 positions.

The mid-session lull as riders started to turn their attentions ever more towards securing an automatic Q2 place was not without incidents, either. Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia clearly looked frustrated aboard his GP26 after going deep under braking while also lacking pace.

Bagnaia entered the closing stages of practice at the Hungarian GP down in P16, and facing a Q1 berth in qualifying at Balaton Park on Saturday. Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales of Tech3 was the first rider to claw his way into the top 10, before Aldeguer and Marquez traded P2.

Aldeguer looked extremely smooth aboard his Ducati GP25 all day, and he moved to within only 0.022s of Acosta’s benchmark pace. Acosta threatened a response, with a new fastest split time in the third sector, but he had to abandon his lap after a huge snap under braking.

Even Iker Lecuona was on the move on his return to MotoGP as an injury stand-in at Gresini while Alex Marquez’s recoveries from his injuries, with the World Superbike star edging into the top 10 as Vinales’ expense. All the while, Bagnaia continued to fall down to a bleak P20.

Bagnaia and Ducati chose to wait until the final six minutes before returning to the track for his flying run. Bezzecchi also bided his time having already set a time to rank among the top six, and immediately moved up to third with five minutes remaining once he finished a lap.

The changes that Ducati made to Bagnaia’s bike during the lull did not do the Italian a load of favours. While the two-time champion climbed up to seventh with his first flying run, he was lucky to avoid a highside after losing the front end and fighting his bike in the chicanes.

Bagnaia’s time quickly fell out of the top 10, too, as Trackhouse star Raul Fernandez took his Aprilia to the top of the order only to instantly be dismissed by Acosta by 0.501s. Binder had threatened to climb the order to bring KTM more joy, too, but had a costly crash at Turn 11.

Yamaha started to dream about having two bikes in the top 10, as well, as Fabio Quartararo briefly joined Miller in the potential Q2 places. But Marquez improving to P7 helped to push Quartararo back out of the top 10 entering the last laps during practice at the Hungarian GP.

Razgatlioglu threatened the top 10, too, but tripping over Quartararo at the end of his final lap likely denied the Turk a place in Q2 that instead went to his Pramac teammate, Miller. VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio also improved to finish practice as the top Ducati in second.

Full MotoGP practice timesheet at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix