{"id":3220,"date":"2026-10-02T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3220"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:35:13","slug":"alex-marquez-tops-japanese-motogp-practice-as-bagnaia-misses-q2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/alex-marquez-tops-japanese-motogp-practice-as-bagnaia-misses-q2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez tops Japanese MotoGP practice as Bagnaia misses Q2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez leads with a 1:42.811<\/strong>, ahead of Pedro Acosta and Marc M\u00e1rquez.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jorge Mart\u00edn finishes eighth and Diogo Moreira ninth<\/strong>, both advancing directly to Q2.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Francesco Bagnaia finishes 16th<\/strong> and must contest Q1 on Saturday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez led Friday\u2019s decisive <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/\">MotoGP<\/a> Practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, setting a <strong>1:42.811<\/strong> to beat Pedro Acosta by just <strong>0.076s<\/strong>. Marc M\u00e1rquez completed the top three, exactly a tenth behind his younger brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Gresini rider delivered his fastest lap during the final qualifying attempts at Motegi, taking first place from Acosta. Marco Bezzecchi finished fourth, followed by Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fabio Quartararo secured seventh ahead of <strong>championship leader Jorge Mart\u00edn<\/strong>, while Diogo Moreira and Johann Zarco completed the ten riders advancing directly to Saturday\u2019s Q2. <strong>Francesco Bagnaia was only 16th<\/strong>, leaving the Ducati rider facing Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez wins the late battle at Motegi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The order changed repeatedly as riders switched their attention to securing a top-ten position. Marc M\u00e1rquez, Bezzecchi and Acosta all moved to the front before \u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez produced the session\u2019s quickest lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acosta\u2019s <strong>1:42.887<\/strong> put KTM within striking distance of Gresini\u2019s Ducati, while Marc M\u00e1rquez finished on <strong>1:42.911<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further down the order, the fight for the final direct Q2 place was even closer. <strong>Zarco edged Ferm\u00edn Aldeguer by just 0.004s<\/strong>, sending the Gresini rider into Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moreira qualifies for Q2 despite crash<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Moreira finished ninth with a 1:43.306<\/strong>, securing a direct Q2 appearance despite falling at Turn 5 late in the session. His earlier lap remained enough to keep him inside the top ten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zarco also crashed, at Turn 13, but retained tenth place. Earlier incidents involved \u00c1lex Rins and Luca Marini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The session was interrupted after <strong>Ai Ogura\u2019s Aprilia suffered an engine problem<\/strong>, leaving smoke and oil on the main straight. The Japanese rider returned on his second bike after the stoppage but finished 15th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bagnaia ended immediately behind Ogura, <strong>0.775s off the fastest lap<\/strong>. Both must now finish among the top two in Q1 to join the pole-position battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"639\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h-1024x639.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1020316544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h-1024x639.webp 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h-300x187.webp 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h-768x479.webp 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h-150x94.webp 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-55564424150_df64150e61_h.webp 1085w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Diogo Moreira (Photo: Michelin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Japanese MotoGP 2026: Friday Practice results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The top ten advance directly to Q2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Pos.<\/th><th>Rider<\/th><th>Team\/Manufacturer<\/th><th>Time<\/th><th>Gap<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>1<\/td><td>\u00c1. M\u00c1RQUEZ<\/td><td>Gresini\/Ducati<\/td><td>1:42.811<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2<\/td><td>P. ACOSTA<\/td><td>KTM<\/td><td>1:42.887<\/td><td>+0.076<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3<\/td><td>M. M\u00c1RQUEZ<\/td><td>Ducati<\/td><td>1:42.911<\/td><td>+0.100<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4<\/td><td>M. BEZZECCHI<\/td><td>Aprilia<\/td><td>1:43.029<\/td><td>+0.218<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5<\/td><td>E. BASTIANINI<\/td><td>Tech3\/KTM<\/td><td>1:43.160<\/td><td>+0.349<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6<\/td><td>F. DI GIANNANTONIO<\/td><td>VR46\/Ducati<\/td><td>1:43.197<\/td><td>+0.386<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7<\/td><td>F. QUARTARARO<\/td><td>Yamaha<\/td><td>1:43.230<\/td><td>+0.419<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8<\/td><td>J. MART\u00cdN<\/td><td>Aprilia<\/td><td>1:43.275<\/td><td>+0.464<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9<\/td><td>D. MOREIRA<\/td><td>LCR\/Honda<\/td><td>1:43.306<\/td><td>+0.495<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10<\/td><td>J. ZARCO<\/td><td>LCR\/Honda<\/td><td>1:43.385<\/td><td>+0.574<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11<\/td><td>F. ALDEGUER<\/td><td>Gresini\/Ducati<\/td><td>1:43.389<\/td><td>+0.578<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12<\/td><td>B. BINDER<\/td><td>KTM<\/td><td>1:43.429<\/td><td>+0.618<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>13<\/td><td>R. FERN\u00c1NDEZ<\/td><td>Trackhouse\/Aprilia<\/td><td>1:43.485<\/td><td>+0.674<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14<\/td><td>F. MORBIDELLI<\/td><td>VR46\/Ducati<\/td><td>1:43.527<\/td><td>+0.716<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>15<\/td><td>A. OGURA<\/td><td>Trackhouse\/Aprilia<\/td><td>1:43.579<\/td><td>+0.768<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>16<\/td><td>F. BAGNAIA<\/td><td>Ducati<\/td><td>1:43.586<\/td><td>+0.775<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>17<\/td><td>L. MARINI<\/td><td>Honda<\/td><td>1:43.688<\/td><td>+0.877<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18<\/td><td>J. MILLER<\/td><td>Pramac\/Yamaha<\/td><td>1:43.728<\/td><td>+0.917<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>19<\/td><td>S. CHANTRA<\/td><td>Honda<\/td><td>1:43.896<\/td><td>+1.085<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>20<\/td><td>\u00c1. RINS<\/td><td>Yamaha<\/td><td>1:44.304<\/td><td>+1.493<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>21<\/td><td>T. RAZGATLIO\u011eLU<\/td><td>Pramac\/Yamaha<\/td><td>1:44.411<\/td><td>+1.600<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>22<\/td><td>M. VI\u00d1ALES<\/td><td>Tech3\/KTM<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday brings another practice session, qualifying and the Sprint. Readers can check the <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/japanese-motogp-2026-full-motegi-schedule-sprint-and-race-start-times\/\">complete Japanese MotoGP schedule, including Sprint and race start times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MotoGP is racing this weekend, from 2\u20134 October, in Japan. <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> will cover all the action at Motegi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MotoGP today: FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why was Diogo Moreira promoted to second in the Japanese MotoGP Sprint?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreira crossed the line fourth but moved to second after Jorge Mart\u00edn and Enea Bastianini each received a drop-one-position penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How far behind Jorge Mart\u00edn is Marc M\u00e1rquez?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">M\u00e1rquez trails Mart\u00edn by <strong>seven points<\/strong> after winning the Japanese Sprint. Mart\u00edn leads with 313 points, ahead of M\u00e1rquez on 306. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time does the Japanese MotoGP race start?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The race starts on <strong>Sunday, 4 October, at 14:00 JST<\/strong>: <strong>06:00 BST<\/strong> in the UK, <strong>01:00 EDT<\/strong> in eastern US and Canada, <strong>10:30 IST<\/strong> in India and <strong>16:00 AEDT<\/strong> in Sydney and Melbourne. On the US and Canadian west coast, it starts at <strong>22:00 PDT on Saturday, 3 October<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who was fastest in Japanese MotoGP practice?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez led Friday\u2019s Practice session with a 1:42.811, beating Pedro Acosta by 0.076s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gresini rider beats Pedro Acosta by 0.076s at Motegi, with Marc M\u00e1rquez third and championship leader Jorge Mart\u00edn eighth. Diogo Moreira secures a direct Q2 place despite a late crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020316551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"\u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Michelin","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[38],"tags":[164,322,586,32,315],"42wp_author":[140],"class_list":["post-3220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motogp","tag-alex-marquez","tag-francesco-bagnaia","tag-japanese-gp","tag-motogp","tag-motogp-2026","42wp_author-kaio-esteves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3221,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions\/3221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020316551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}