Marco Bezzecchi topped Friday practice at Motegi, edging Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez in a session marked by multiple crashes and a bit of late Marquez drama.
The Aprilia rider set a 1m43.193s on his final run to secure the fastest time of the day, leading a group of four manufacturers in the top four positions.
Acosta had briefly gone quickest with a 1m43.329s on his KTM, but his run ended with a crash at Turn 1. Despite totaling one of his RC16s, he held on to second, just 0.136s off Bezzecchi.
😱💥 @37_pedroacosta's bike is completely destroyed but he might be safely through to Q2 #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/qgTLhXBGpP
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 26, 2025
Marquez, who looked at risk of missing the top ten earlier in the hour, salvaged third with a 1m43.360s on the Ducati.
The championship leader had been outside the cut-off with ten minutes to go, but improved on his final run.
Joan Mir led Honda’s charge, clocking a 1m43.361s to take fourth ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio. Mir’s teammate Luca Marini secured a double factory Honda Q2, finishing sixth.
Francesco Bagnaia, like his teammate, endured a rather messy session, suffering mechanical issues early on.
The Italian was forced to abort several of his race simulation runs in the first half of the session, but secured a seventh-place finish in the final minutes of Friday running.
Just a few minutes into Practice, @PeccoBagnaia reverts back to the pits ⚠️#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/krfWThCNk2
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 26, 2025
Fabio Quartararo was once again the only Yamaha rider to take a direct spot in Q2 in eighth. Raul Fernandez and Johann Zarcocompleted the top ten.
Fermin Aldeguer and Enea Bastianini missed out on a direct Q2 entry by less than 0.01 seconds, with Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura and Alex Marquez all setting a 1m43.784s for P13, P14 and P15.
Marquez’s afternoon unraveled after a crash at Turn 4 left him without a competitive time. Having returned to the track on the spare bike, the Spaniard was hindered by yellow flags and a big error in Turn 4 on his final flying lap.
He will need to fight his way through Q1 on Saturday for the first time this season; his brother Marc remains the only rider on the grid to make the direct cut for Q2 in every 2025 round.
Slippery track = more trouble ⚠️@alexmarquez73 has crashed at Turn 9, and he's still down in P23 😱#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/rkNVQvsiZr
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 26, 2025
After two earlier falls by Jorge Martin, crashes by Jack Miller, Franco Morbidelli and Somkiat Chantra turned the final minutes of the session into a chaotic scrap for lap times, with several riders having multiple lap times cancelled due to the yellow flags.
