Misano Friday | Bezzecchi fastest, Agius record, Kelso second

MotoGP 2026

Round 14 – Misano – Friday

Senna Agius set a new Moto2 lap record, and Joel Kelso finished second in Moto3 as the Australians made a strong start to the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano. In MotoGP, Marco Bezzecchi edged Marc Marquez for Friday honours, while stand-in rider Pol Espargaro delivered one of the day’s standout performances by securing direct passage to Q2.

World Championship leader Jorge Martin only just made the MotoGP cut, Francesco Bagnaia was left down in 19th, and Jack Miller faced a difficult opening day that began with a crash and ended with the Australian 20th. Agius and Kelso provided considerably brighter prospects in the smaller classes, with both comfortably through to Saturday’s Q2 sessions.

MotoGP Friday Practice

Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez picked up their Misano rivalry where they left off last year, sharing the Friday sessions before the Aprilia rider claimed the afternoon advantage with a 1m30.144s.

Marquez had led FP1 with a 1m31.468s, just 0.060s ahead of Bezzecchi, while Raul Fernandez made it two Aprilias in the morning top three. Alex Marquez, Johann Zarco and Pedro Acosta completed the top six, covered by only 0.210s.

The afternoon brought a much hotter track, with the official surface temperature rising from 26 to 36 degrees. Bezzecchi established the benchmark through the middle of Practice before the late time attacks brought Fabio Di Giannantonio, Luca Marini and Acosta to the top in succession.

Acosta improved on consecutive laps to a 1m30.488s, Bezzecchi briefly replied with a 1m30.331s, and then Marquez moved ahead with a 1m30.247s. That remained the target until Bezzecchi crossed the line with just under 13 seconds left on the clock to post the winning time.

Bezzecchi finished 0.103s clear of Marquez and only 0.113s outside Francesco Bagnaia’s outright Misano record. Alex Marquez was third on 1m30.329s, followed by the VR46 Ducatis of Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli.

Marco Bezzecchi

“I’m happy, it was a good start to the weekend. My goal, along with the team, was to go straight through to Q2, and we achieved that. In any case, it was an intense day and there are several areas where we need to keep working ahead of tomorrow to improve as much as possible.”

Where the lap time came from

The sector breakdown showed three different riders setting the benchmarks. Bezzecchi was quickest through sectors one and three, Zarco’s Honda topped sector two with a 20.089s, and Marc Marquez was fastest through the final sector with a 20.246s. That closing section includes the left-hand Turns 15 and 16.

Comparing the two leading riders’ best laps, Bezzecchi gained 0.191s on Marquez through sector three alone. Marquez recovered 0.134s in the final sector, but the Aprilia rider had built enough of a margin to stay ahead across the complete lap.

There was also more to Bezzecchi’s afternoon than the late flyer. On laps 10 to 12 he recorded consecutive times of 1m30.829s, 1m30.807s and 1m30.849s, a spread of just 0.042s. Those laps came early in a soft-rear run; the different tyre programmes across the field still need to be considered when assessing race pace.

The timing sheet also records a fresh soft rear for Bezzecchi’s final run, while Marc Marquez continued on the soft rear used for his preceding time attack. The Ducati rider had already assembled all four of his best valid sectors on the 1m30.247s lap.

Di Giannantonio finished fourth with a 1m30.385s and Morbidelli fifth on 1m30.415s, both setting their best times on their final laps. Valentino Rossi was in the VR46 garage, with Di Giannantonio saying they had spent time looking through the data together. He was encouraged by his speed on both rear compounds but still wanted more effectiveness under braking.

Stand-in Pol Espargaro goes straight to Q2

Pol Espargaro’s ninth place was one of the more notable results of the day. Replacing the injured Maverick Vinales at Tech3, the KTM test rider put himself straight into Q2 while regular race riders including team-mate Enea Bastianini and factory KTM rider Brad Binder were left to negotiate Q1.

Espargaro had been eleventh in FP1 and initially reached a 1m30.895s in the afternoon time attacks. He then found another 0.221s on his final run, posting a 1m30.674s while following Acosta and Marc Marquez.

It was a particularly well-assembled lap: Espargaro’s actual time matched his theoretical best, the sum of his four best valid sectors. He put those sectors together on the same lap to secure his place in the top ten.

Espargaro also explained that a change to the support on his fuel tank had moved his seating position further back. That helped rear traction but required him to adapt his braking and corner lines.

Pol Espargaro

“I cannot explain how I did that! It was crazy. When I did the first time attack, I did a 1’30.8. I pitted and thought it would be impossible to improve that, it felt so fast. I told my crew that it felt like I was over the limit all the time. But then I went back on track with Pedro (Acosta) and Marc (Marquez) in front, and in the end, I could go even faster. Following them was an amazing experience that I’ve been missing for many years.”

“After Aragon I changed the tank position, so I am further back on the bike. It’s the first time in my career I’ve put something there. With our bike, it seems the further back you are, the more traction you have. So, I’ve changed my way of braking and opening the racing lines and it seems to be working here!”

Martin survives a tight Q2 cut

Acosta was the leading KTM in sixth, recovering from a Turn 1 crash in FP1. Marini and Zarco gave Honda two direct Q2 places in seventh and eighth, with Marini securing automatic progression for the first time since the US Grand Prix.

Behind Espargaro, Jorge Martin took the final direct Q2 position on a 1m30.690s. The championship leader had improved to seventh late in the session but was pushed back to tenth as the last laps came in, finishing just 0.014s ahead of Bastianini.

Jorge Martin

“I have mixed feelings. I’m pleased because I managed to go straight through to Q2, which was our objective. I improved my pace in each run, but I’m far from where I’d like to be in the time attack. We saw with Marco that the bike is working well, so we need to figure out how to put the various pieces together. Our pace isn’t bad, but we need to work on improving in the time attack, so we’ll be able to battle with the group ahead of us.”

Bastianini reverted to his Aragon settings after an unsuccessful morning experiment. He was competitive on his first time attack but said front-tyre difficulties prevented another improvement on his second attempt.

Fernandez was only another 0.012s behind in 12th. The Trackhouse rider accepted responsibility for mistakes during his final run and planned to study Bezzecchi’s data, particularly to improve his lines through the opening sector. Team-mate Ai Ogura remains absent through injury.

Fermin Aldeguer, Joan Mir and Binder completed a top 15, covered by just under eight-tenths. Aldeguer reported a front-end issue during his late attempt, while Mir felt substantial changes between sessions had improved his Honda after a difficult morning.

Bagnaia faced a much bigger deficit in 19th, 1.315s from the top and 1.212s behind team-mate Marquez. His fastest lap came on lap six of 19, during his opening run, and remained unbeaten through four subsequent outings. He heads into Q1 at a circuit where he holds the outright lap record.

Pecco Bagnaia

“For the last three races, we’ve been struggling to understand the bike’s behaviour, particularly in terms of engine braking and rear grip. It’s something we hadn’t experienced before, but now the bike feels very nervous, and it’s difficult to feel the differences when we make changes to the set-up. We’re continuing to work non-stop to find a solution ahead of tomorrow and Sunday.”

Miller and Yamaha searching for answers

Jack Miller’s Friday began with an unusual Turn 4 fall almost as soon as FP1 started. Miller explained that cold brakes and tyres caught him out shortly after leaving pit lane.

He was unhurt and returned to finish 17th on the morning, but an afternoon spent trying different settings brought only 20th on a 1m31.567s. The Australian completed 23 afternoon laps as Pramac worked through changes to the bike’s balance.

Jack Miller

“Not the easiest of Fridays, I should say. About 100 metres into the track this morning, I decided to throw myself at the scenery! Cold brakes, cold tyres, and as soon as I grabbed the brake they locked up. I was on the ground before I really had time to think about it, but luckily I was okay and we were able to get back to work.

“It was a busy day because we were constantly trying to adapt the bike and get it working in the way we needed. I don’t think I rode the same bike twice today. We tried a lot of different things with the balance, going in different directions with the front and rear, and we made a little bit of headway towards the end of the session. It was difficult to put a proper lap together while we were still changing the bike, but we gathered plenty of information.

“There is quite a lot of grip, but it is pushing the front and I’m struggling to get the bike to rotate in some of the corners. In the fast section it feels pretty stable, but when you get into the tighter corners, it feels like the bike just doesn’t want to change direction. We need to work on that balance.

“We are a little bit behind where we wanted to be, and the other guys are flying, so we’ve got some work ahead of us. But that’s what Friday is for. We have some new parts coming through as well and we’re still developing the bike, so we’ll take what we learned today, go through the data and try to make a step forward tomorrow.”

Team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu was 21st on a 1m32.071s after placing 14th in FP1. The Turk had been encouraged by the medium rear but said the bike behaved very differently on the soft, particularly when stopping and turning into corners.

Fabio Quartararo also reported difficulty making the soft work on its right side. He led the Yamahas in 16th, with Alex Rins 18th and Diogo Moreira’s Honda between them. All four Yamahas

Misano MotoGP Friday Practice Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	M. Bezzecchi	Apr	1m30.144	300.0
2	M. Marquez	Duc	+0.103	299.1
3	A. Marquez	Duc	+0.185	299.1
4	F. Di Giannantonio	Duc	+0.241	297.5
5	F. Morbidelli	Duc	+0.271	297.5
6	P. Acosta	KTM	+0.344	299.1
7	L. Marini	Hon	+0.496	298.3
8	J. Zarco	Hon	+0.510	300.8
9	P. Espargaro	KTM	+0.530	300.8
10	J. Martin	Apr	+0.546	299.1
11	E. Bastianini	KTM	+0.560	299.1
12	R. Fernandez	Apr	+0.572	295.0
13	F. Aldeguer	Duc	+0.614	296.7
14	J. Mir	Hon	+0.715	300.0
15	B. Binder	KTM	+0.799	300.8
16	F. Quartararo	Yam	+1.034	293.4
17	D. Moreira	Hon	+1.119	300.8
18	A. Rins	Yam	+1.137	295.0
19	F. Bagnaia	Duc	+1.315	296.7
20	J. Miller	Yam	+1.423	292.6
21	T. Razgatlioglu	Yam	+1.927	294.2

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Points
1	J. Martin	256
2	M. Marquez	237
3	M. Bezzecchi	232
4	F. Di Giannantonio	208
5	A. Ogura	203
6	P. Acosta	189
7	R. Fernandez	186
8	F. Bagnaia	143
9	A. Marquez	128
10	F. Aldeguer	90
11	L. Marini	88
12	E. Bastianini	84
13	B. Binder	78
14	D. Moreira	64
15	F. Quartararo	55
16	F. Morbidelli	53
17	J. Zarco	36
18	J. Mir	33
19	J. Miller	28
20	A. Rins	24
21	T. Razgatlioglu	14
22	M. Vinales	10
23	I. Lecuona	9
24	A. Fernandez	6
25	P. Espargaro	3
26	C. Crutchlow	0
27	J. Folger	0
28	L. Savadori	0
29	M. Pirro	0

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Moto2

Moto2 Friday Practice

Senna Agius claimed a new Misano Moto2 lap record as the Australian and championship-leading team-mate Manuel Gonzalez gave Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP a one-two in both Friday sessions.

Gonzalez had edged Agius by 0.035s in FP1, posting a 1m35.031s against the Australian’s 1m35.066s. Agius reversed that order in the afternoon with a 1m34.142s, beating Daniel Holgado’s 2025 outright record by 0.074s.

Gonzalez finished 0.120s behind, with David Alonso just another 0.013s back in third. Agius was the only rider to better the previous lap record.

Agius sets the target with six minutes remaining

The chronological timing gives a clearer picture of how Agius took control. Collin Veijer briefly led with a 1m34.610s before Agius moved ahead on lap 11 with a 1m34.439s. The Australian then returned to the track and lowered the benchmark to his record time on lap 14 of 18, with just over six minutes remaining.

Gonzalez and Alonso both improved late, setting their best times on laps 20 and 19 respectively, but neither could dislodge the Australian.

The final sector made a telling contribution to Agius’ advantage over his team-mate. Comparing their fastest laps, Agius covered that section in 21.003s against Gonzalez’s 21.156s, gaining 0.153s there alone. That more than accounted for his eventual 0.120s margin across the complete lap.

Veijer finished fourth, 0.241s from Agius, ahead of Holgado. Tony Arbolino and Barry Baltus put both Fantic entries in the top seven, while Izan Guevara was the leading Boscoscuro rider in eighth.

Guevara, second in the championship, retained his perfect record of direct Q2 entry this season. He was 0.424s from the top but felt a mistake on his quick lap had cost him a better position, with the narrow, bumpy opening sector proving particularly difficult.

Izan Guevara

“The first sector is probably where I struggle the most, especially in Turn 1 and the tighter section that follows. When the bike doesn’t turn as I would like and you have those tight corners with a lot of movement from the bike, it becomes easier to make mistakes, and you lose a little bit of time.”

Alonso Lopez and Filip Salac completed the top ten. Lopez felt his pace was competitive but identified braking performance as an area to improve before qualifying.

Last year’s Misano winner Celestino Vietti recovered from 28th in FP1 to secure 11th in Practice. Angel Piqueras and Ivan Ortola also progressed directly, while Alberto Ferrandez took the final Q2 place in 14th, giving Pramac its third double direct-Q2 result of the season.

Daniel Munoz missed the cut by 0.125s. Aron Canet, Deniz Oncu and Sergio Garcia were among the riders left facing Q1, with Garcia down in 26th after several lap cancellations.

Four Moto2 falls were recorded across the day. Xabi Zurutuza crashed at Turn 15 in FP1, while the afternoon brought falls for Adrian Huertas at Turn 9, Jose Antonio Rueda at Turn 6 and Mario Aji at Turn 14. All four were listed as okay in the official report.

Moto2 Friday Practice Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	S. Agius	Kal	1m34.142	247.7
2	M. Gonzalez	Kal	+0.120	250.0
3	D. Alonso	Kal	+0.133	249.4
4	C. Veijer	Kal	+0.241	251.7
5	D. Holgado	Kal	+0.329	248.2
6	T. Arbolino	Kal	+0.339	248.8
7	B. Baltus	Kal	+0.382	248.8
8	I. Guevara	Bos	+0.424	250.5
9	A. Lopez	Kal	+0.434	248.8
10	F. Salac	Kal	+0.463	248.2
11	C. Vietti	Bos	+0.465	249.4
12	A. Piqueras	Kal	+0.510	252.3
13	I. Ortola	Kal	+0.598	251.1
14	A. Ferrandez	Bos	+0.685	250.0
15	D. Munoz	Kal	+0.810	248.8
16	A. Canet	Bos	+0.884	248.8
17	A. Sasaki	Kal	+0.902	248.8
18	M. Ramirez	For	+1.058	249.4
19	T. Furusato	Kal	+1.109	248.8
20	A. Huertas	Kal	+1.125	247.7
21	D. Oncu	Bos	+1.131	250.0
22	L. Lunetta	Bos	+1.164	248.8
23	A. Escrig	For	+1.191	248.2
24	J. Roberts	Kal	+1.214	246.5
25	M. Aji	Kal	+1.275	247.7
26	S. Garcia	Kal	+1.418	249.4
27	J. Rueda	Kal	+1.429	248.2
28	Z. vd Goorbergh	Kal	+1.709	244.8
29	X. Zurutuza	For	+2.424	249.4

Moto2 Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Points
1	M. Gonzalez	207.5
2	I. Guevara	175
3	S. Agius	149
4	I. Ortola	144.5
5	D. Holgado	137
6	D. Alonso	132
7	C. Vietti	114
8	F. Salac	108
9	A. Lopez	92.5
10	D. Munoz	59
11	A. Escrig	57
12	C. Veijer	55.5
13	T. Arbolino	42.5
14	J. Roberts	40
15	B. Baltus	36
16	A. Huertas	32
17	D. Oncu	31.5
18	J. Rueda	27
19	A. Sasaki	19
20	L. Lunetta	17
21	A. Ferrandez	15.5
22	T. Furusato	15
23	A. Canet	13.5
24	Z. vd Goorbergh	12
25	S. Garcia	11
26	A. Piqueras	4
27	M. Aji	3
28	M. Ramirez	0
29	U. Orradre	0
30	J. Navarro	0
31	X. Zurutuza	0
32	D. Foggia	0
33	J. Roulstone	0
34	M. Pawelec	0

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Moto3 Friday Practice

Joel Kelso backed up the fastest time in FP1 with second in the afternoon Moto3 Practice session, securing direct passage to Q2 as David Almansa set the Friday pace at Misano.

Kelso needed only four laps to lead the tricky morning session, posting a 1m46.033s to finish 0.533s ahead of Leo Rammerstorfer. Adrian Fernandez was third, while championship leader Maximo Quiles sat out FP1.

The afternoon produced a much more representative order as the lap times tumbled. Almansa went quickest with a 1m40.767s, finishing 0.402s ahead of Kelso’s GRYD Racing Honda, with Quiles returning to action and taking third on a 1m41.325s.

Kelso leads the Honda challenge

Kelso set his best time on lap 14 of 18 and finished 0.156s ahead of Quiles. Team-mate Eddie O’Shea was eighth, giving GRYD Racing two direct Q2 places and the two highest-placed Hondas in the session.

Almansa’s advantage was supported by more than one quick lap. He had already recorded a 1m41.069s during his first run, a time that would have remained fastest overall. He then improved to 1m40.912s and finally 1m40.767s during his second outing, becoming the only rider to break into the 1m40s.

Quiles secured third on his final lap, with Aspar team-mate Marco Morelli fourth. Rico Salmela and Valentin Perrone put both Tech3 KTMs in the top six, ahead of Matteo Bertelle, O’Shea and Joel Esteban.

Uriarte falls, Carpe faces Q1

Brian Uriarte finished tenth despite a late highside exiting Turn 13. The official falls report recorded the incident at 13:45 local time and listed the Ajo rider as okay. His earlier 1m41.697s remained sufficient for direct entry to Q2.

Team-mate Alvaro Carpe was less fortunate in the timing battle. He finished 18th with a 1m42.014s, missing the direct-Q2 threshold by 0.122s, and will have to progress through Q1.

Casey O’Gorman, Scott Ogden and Veda Pratama all made the cut, with Adrian Fernandez claiming the final automatic place in 14th. Fernandez’s best time came on lap five and survived the late challenge from Adrian Cruces, who missed out by just 0.023s. Hakim Danish and Guido Pini also face Q1.

Uriarte’s fall was the only Moto3 crash recorded on Friday.

Moto3 Practice Results

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap	Speed
1	D. Almansa	KTM	1m40.767	208.8
2	J. Kelso	Hon	+0.402	209.7
3	M. Quiles	KTM	+0.558	212.5
4	M. Morelli	KTM	+0.631	211.7
5	R. Salmela	KTM	+0.660	210.5
6	V. Perrone	KTM	+0.685	210.5
7	M. Bertelle	KTM	+0.746	210.9
8	E. O’Shea	Hon	+0.821	210.9
9	J. Esteban	KTM	+0.840	211.3
10	B. Uriarte	KTM	+0.930	207.2
11	C. O’Gorman	Hon	+0.972	212.1
12	S. Ogden	KTM	+0.992	210.5
13	V. Pratama	Hon	+1.003	211.7
14	A. Fernandez	Hon	+1.125	212.1
15	A. Cruces	KTM	+1.148	212.1
16	H. Danish	KTM	+1.169	208.4
17	G. Pini	Hon	+1.199	209.3
18	A. Carpe	KTM	+1.247	211.3
19	J. Rios	Hon	+1.366	208.4
20	Z. Mitani	Hon	+1.438	210.9
21	R. Yamanaka	KTM	+1.468	210.9
22	L. Rammerstorfer	Hon	+1.498	209.3
23	M. Uriarte	KTM	+1.637	210.1
24	R. Moodley	KTM	+1.639	209.7
25	D. Gonzalez	KTM	+2.110	208.0
26	N. Carraro	Hon	+2.152	210.

Moto3 Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Points
1	M. Quiles	256
2	A. Carpe	159
3	D. Almansa	154
4	B. Uriarte	138
5	M. Morelli	131
6	V. Perrone	103
7	V. Pratama	97
8	H. Danish	90
9	M. Bertelle	71
10	R. Salmela	60
11	G. Pini	59
12	J. Esteban	59
13	A. Fernandez	57
14	A. Cruces	56
15	J. Kelso	53
16	C. O’Gorman	53
17	D. Munoz	52
18	E. O’Shea	52
19	J. Rios	49
20	S. Ogden	28
21	R. Yamanaka	22
22	M. Uriarte	6
23	C. Buchanan	5
24	L. Rammerstorfer	4
25	D. Gonzalez	2
26	Z. Mitani	2
27	R. Moodley	1
28	K. Singhapong	1
29	N. Carraro	0
30	L. Abruzzo	0
31	E. Gutierrez	0

2026 MotoGP Calendar

Rnd	Date	Event	Circuit
1	01 Mar	Thai	Chang International Circuit
2	22 Mar	Brazil*	Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
3	29 Mar	US	Circuit of the Americas
4	26 Apr	Spain**	Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
5	10 May	France	Le Mans
6	17 May	Catalonia	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
7	31 May	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
8	07 Jun	Hungary	Balaton Park Circuit
9	21 Jun	Czech	Automotodrom Brno
10	28 Jun	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen
11	12 Jul	Germany	Sachsenring
12	09 Aug	GB	Silverstone Circuit
13	30 Aug	Aragon	MotorLand Aragon
14	13 Sep	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
15	20 Sep	Austria	Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
16	04 Oct	Japan	Mobility Resort Motegi
17	11 Oct	Indonesia	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
18	25 Oct	Australia	Phillip Island
19	01 Nov	Malaysia	Petronas Sepang International Circuit
20	08 Nov	Qatar	Lusail International Circuit
21	22 Nov	Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
22	29 Nov	Valencia	Circuit Ricardo Tormo

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