MotoGP 2026
Round 16 – Motegi – Friday
Conditions had warmed considerably by the time the MotoGP field rolled out for Friday Practice, with an ambient temperature of 23 degrees and the track at 34 degrees.
Takaaki Nakagami did not take part in the afternoon session after crashing at Turn 11 during FP1. The Honda wildcard was subsequently declared unfit for the remainder of the day.
It had been a bruising Friday across all three classes, with 28 falls recorded over the opening day at Motegi — up from 24 in 2025 and more than double the 12 recorded in 2024.
Alex Rins was the first rider in trouble, going down at Turn Three almost as soon as the session got underway.
Luca Marini then provided the first surprise. The Honda rider went to the top with a 1m44.841 only five-and-a-half minutes into the session, only to crash at Turn One on his following lap.
The opening phase was soon interrupted altogether. Eight minutes in, Ai Ogura pulled his Trackhouse Aprilia off the circuit with smoke pouring from the machine. Race Direction immediately showed the red flag while the circuit was inspected for oil, with absorbent powder subsequently applied to several small sections before Practice could resume.
Once back underway, Marco Bezzecchi established himself at the top for much of the middle phase. Marc Marquez eventually displaced the Aprilia rider with a 1m43.623 before Pedro Acosta went three-hundredths quicker a few minutes later.
The order kept churning in the closing stages. Fermin Aldeguer briefly went fastest with little more than five minutes remaining, before Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez and then Bezzecchi again traded the benchmark as the final time attacks gathered pace.
Johann Zarco’s session ended with a crash at Turn 14 in the closing minutes, leaving the Frenchman watching nervously as his earlier 1m43.385 sat on the Q2 bubble.
Diogo Moreira then went down at Turn Five only a couple of minutes later, although the rookie had already done enough with his 1m43.306 to secure an impressive ninth and direct passage to Q2.
Fabio Quartararo then catapulted himself up the order in the dying seconds, briefly climbing to fifth before Fabio Di Giannantonio, then Enea Bastianini, pushed the Yamaha back to seventh.
With the final laps underway, it was Bezzecchi from Marc Marquez, but that order was about to change again.
Acosta produced a 1m42.887 on lap 24 to jump to the top, only for Alex Marquez to come through six seconds later with a 1m42.811. The Gresini Ducati rider’s lap was enough to beat Acosta by 0.076 seconds and Marc Marquez by exactly one tenth, while also establishing a new all-time MotoGP lap record around Motegi.
Alex Marquez – P1
“Today we rode almost exclusively on the medium tyre, and tomorrow morning we will focus on the soft. It is also an option for the race, but most of today’s work was done on the medium. Japan has never been a particularly favourable track for us, but today we felt good, mainly thanks to the high level of grip on the track. Everyone will improve tomorrow, and we will have to do the same.”
The ultimate theoretical lap, taking the fastest sector from any rider, was a 1m42.660. Alex Marquez owned Sector One, Bezzecchi Sector Two, while Acosta was quickest in both Sectors Three and Four. Acosta also had the strongest individual ideal lap at 1m42.780.
Bezzecchi ultimately finished fourth ahead of Bastianini, Di Giannantonio and Quartararo, with championship leader Jorge Martin eighth and Moreira ninth.
Zarco’s earlier lap survived the late onslaught by the narrowest of margins. He claimed the tenth and final direct Q2 berth by four-thousandths over Aldeguer — despite Aldeguer having actually led the session only minutes earlier.
Brad Binder was 12th ahead of Raul Fernandez, Franco Morbidelli and Ai Ogura.
Francesco Bagnaia endured a particularly difficult afternoon. The winner of the last two Japanese Grands Prix and Sprints could manage only 16th on a 1m43.586. Significantly, that was also Bagnaia’s theoretical ideal lap from his best four sectors, suggesting there was little hidden time left on the table.
Jack Miller finished 18th with a 1m43.728. His theoretical ideal of 1m43.555 showed a little more potential, but would still have left the Australian outside the direct Q2 places.
Somkiat Chantra was 19th ahead of Rins and Toprak Razgatlioglu, with Maverick Viñales completing the order in 22nd.
There was at least some entertainment after the chequered flag. The Miller Taxi returned to service when Rins’ Yamaha rolled to a halt, Miller collecting the Spaniard and giving him a lift back to the pit lane. Jack even threw in a rolling stoppie with his passenger aboard, while Rins hung off the back, then Jack brushed his knee on the deck as they returned to the pits.
There were some differing approaches to rear-tyre use through the session. Bezzecchi and Acosta moved onto the soft rear relatively early, while Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez spent much of Practice working on the medium before switching to the soft for their late time attacks.
Motegi MotoGP Friday Practice Results
 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Alex Marquez | 1:42.811 |
| 2 | Pedro Acosta | +0.076 |
| 3 | Marc Marquez | +0.100 |
| 4 | Marco Bezzecchi | +0.218 |
| 5 | Enea Bastianini | +0.349 |
| 6 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | +0.386 |
| 7 | Fabio Quartararo | +0.419 |
| 8 | Jorge Martin | +0.464 |
| 9 | Diogo Moreira | +0.495 |
| 10 | Johann Zarco | +0.574 |
| 11 | Fermin Aldeguer | +0.578 |
| 12 | Brad Binder | +0.618 |
| 13 | Raul Fernandez | +0.674 |
| 14 | Franco Morbidelli | +0.716 |
| 15 | Ai Ogura | +0.768 |
| 16 | Francesco Bagnaia | +0.775 |
| 17 | Luca Marini | +0.877 |
| 18 | Jack Miller | +0.917 |
| 19 | Somkiat Chantra | +1.085 |
| 20 | Alex Rins | +1.493 |
| 21 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | +1.600 |
| 22 | Maverick Viñales | – |
2026 MotoGP Championship Standings
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points
|
|
1
|
J. Martin
|
306
|
|
2
|
M. Marquez
|
294
|
|
3
|
M. Bezzecchi
|
264
|
|
4
|
P. Acosta
|
234
|
|
5
|
F. Di Giannantonio
|
230
|
|
6
|
A. Ogura
|
222
|
|
7
|
R. Fernandez
|
203
|
|
8
|
A. Marquez
|
158
|
|
9
|
F. Bagnaia
|
156
|
|
10
|
F. Aldeguer
|
115
|
|
11
|
L. Marini
|
98
|
|
12
|
E. Bastianini
|
97
|
|
13
|
B. Binder
|
94
|
|
14
|
D. Moreira
|
65
|
|
15
|
F. Quartararo
|
61
|
|
16
|
F. Morbidelli
|
56
|
|
17
|
J. Zarco
|
45
|
|
18
|
J. Mir
|
33
|
|
19
|
J. Miller
|
28
|
|
20
|
A. Rins
|
24
|
|
21
|
T. Razgatlioglu
|
18
|
|
22
|
M. Viñales
|
10
|
|
23
|
I. Lecuona
|
9
|
|
24
|
A. Fernandez
|
6
|
|
25
|
P. Espargaro
|
5
|
|
26
|
T. Nakagami
|
3
|
|
27
|
C. Crutchlow
|
0
|
|
28
|
J. Folger
|
0
|
|
29
|
L. Savadori
|
0
|
|
30
|
M. Pirro
|
0
|
Moto2
David Alonso set the pace in Moto2 Practice with a 1m47.508, the Colombian producing his quickest lap on lap 16 of 18 to beat Manuel Gonzalez by only 0.033-second.
Izan Guevara completed a remarkably close top three, just 0.060 from Alonso, while Tony Arbolino was fourth at 0.093. Daniel Holgado and Filip Salac were also within 0.156 of the benchmark.
Senna Agius secured direct passage to Q2 with tenth place. The Australian’s 1m48.018 came on lap 15 of an 18-lap session and left him only 0.510 from Alonso.
There was also considerably more pace in Agius than his final lap time suggested. His best individual sectors combined to a theoretical 1m47.697, which ranked seventh in the ideal-lap comparison. He was fourth quickest through the opening sector and sixth through Sector Three.
The closing stages produced a nasty incident involving Adrian Huertas and Taiyo Furusato. Furusato was pitched into a highside and Huertas, arriving immediately behind, had nowhere to go and became caught up in the incident.
Huertas had already done enough to secure seventh and direct passage to Q2, while Furusato ended Practice 22nd and will have to come through Q1.
Ivan Ortola, Deniz Öncü, Jose Antonio Rueda and Daniel Muñoz completed the top 14 progressing directly to Q2.
The cut was brutally tight. Zonta van den Goorbergh was 15th and missed direct Q2 passage by only 0.009-second, while Joe Roberts was another hundredth behind in 16th.
Moto2 Friday Practice Results
 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Time/Gap |
| 1 | David Alonso | 1:47.508 |
| 2 | Manuel Gonzalez | +0.033 |
| 3 | Izan Guevara | +0.060 |
| 4 | Tony Arbolino | +0.093 |
| 5 | Daniel Holgado | +0.151 |
| 6 | Filip Salac | +0.156 |
| 7 | Adrian Huertas | +0.422 |
| 8 | Alonso Lopez | +0.431 |
| 9 | Ayumu Sasaki | +0.478 |
| 10 | Senna Agius | +0.510 |
| 11 | Ivan Ortola | +0.542 |
| 12 | Deniz Öncü | +0.556 |
| 13 | Jose Antonio Rueda | +0.610 |
| 14 | Daniel Muñoz | +0.641 |
| 15 | Zonta van den Goorbergh | +0.650 |
| 16 | Joe Roberts | +0.660 |
| 17 | Unai Orradre | +0.742 |
| 18 | Barry Baltus | +0.746 |
| 19 | Luca Lunetta | +0.758 |
| 20 | Alex Escrig | +0.809 |
| 21 | Celestino Vietti | +0.854 |
| 22 | Taiyo Furusato | +0.936 |
| 23 | Xabi Zurutuza | +1.004 |
| 24 | Aron Canet | +1.078 |
| 25 | Mario Aji | +1.094 |
| 26 | Sergio Garcia | +1.332 |
| 27 | Milan Pawelec | +2.386 |
Moto2 Championship Standings
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points |
|
1
|
M. Gonzalez
|
245.5
|
|
2
|
I. Guevara
|
210
|
|
3
|
I. Ortola
|
168.5
|
|
4
|
D. Alonso
|
155
|
|
5
|
S. Agius
|
149
|
|
6
|
D. Holgado
|
146
|
|
7
|
F. Salac
|
128
|
|
8
|
C. Vietti
|
123
|
|
9
|
A. Lopez
|
110.5
|
|
10
|
C. Veijer
|
75.5
|
|
11
|
D. Muñoz
|
68
|
|
12
|
A. Escrig
|
63
|
|
13
|
B. Baltus
|
60
|
|
14
|
T. Arbolino
|
55.5
|
|
15
|
J. Roberts
|
44
|
|
16
|
D. Öncü
|
38.5
|
|
17
|
A. Huertas
|
37
|
|
18
|
J. Rueda
|
31
|
|
19
|
L. Lunetta
|
23
|
|
20
|
A. Sasaki
|
19
|
|
21
|
A. Ferrandez
|
17.5
|
|
22
|
A. Canet
|
17.5
|
|
23
|
T. Furusato
|
15
|
|
24
|
Z. vd Goorbergh
|
12
|
|
25
|
S. Garcia
|
11
|
|
26
|
A. Piqueras
|
4
|
|
27
|
M. Aji
|
3
|
|
28
|
M. Ramirez
|
0
|
|
29
|
X. Zurutuza
|
0
|
|
30
|
U. Orradre
|
0
|
|
31
|
J. Navarro
|
0
|
|
32
|
D. Foggia
|
0
|
|
33
|
J. Roulstone
|
0
|
|
34
|
M. Pawelec
|
0
|
Moto3
Moto3 Practice was conducted in considerably warmer conditions than the morning, with the track temperature up to 35 degrees and ambient at 24.
David Almansa’s difficult Friday continued when he crashed for the third time that day around the halfway point of Practice.
Championship leader Maximo Quiles then lost the front at Turn Three around the midpoint of the session, although the Spaniard had already banked a 1m55.509 that would ultimately leave him sixth.
The closing stages became increasingly chaotic.
David Muñoz went down at Turn Seven, but his earlier 1m55.561 was still good enough for seventh.
Hakim Danish then suffered his second fall of the day, running wide at Turn 14 before the bike went end-over-end and destroyed itself.
On the following lap Eddie O’Shea was down at Turn Seven, before Alvaro Carpe lost the rear on the exit of Turn Eight.
Carpe’s crash came despite showing exceptional outright pace. His best four sectors added up to a theoretical 1m55.166 — the fastest ideal lap of the entire session — although his actual 1m55.393 left him fourth.
Scott Ogden then added another crash at Turn One in the dying seconds.
Through all that, Marco Morelli emerged fastest. The Argentine fired in a 1m55.280 on his 15th and final lap to edge Ryusei Yamanaka by just 0.016-second.
Brian Uriarte was third ahead of Carpe and Valentin Perrone, with Quiles sixth from Muñoz, Veda Pratama, Matteo Bertelle and David Almansa.
Joel Kelso secured direct passage to Q2 in 13th. The Australian had set his 1m55.920 remarkably early, on just lap three of his 15-lap session, and that time survived through to the chequered flag.
Kelso was 0.640 from Morelli and the third Honda home behind Pratama and Adrian Fernandez.
Adrian Cruces claimed the 14th and final direct Q2 berth with a 1m55.940, leaving Rico Salmela as the first rider consigned to Q1 by 0.167-second.
Moto3 Practice Results
 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Marco Morelli | 1:55.280 |
| 2 | Ryusei Yamanaka | +0.016 |
| 3 | Brian Uriarte | +0.084 |
| 4 | Alvaro Carpe | +0.113 |
| 5 | Valentin Perrone | +0.132 |
| 6 | Maximo Quiles | +0.229 |
| 7 | David Muñoz | +0.281 |
| 8 | Veda Pratama | +0.317 |
| 9 | Matteo Bertelle | +0.336 |
| 10 | David Almansa | +0.350 |
| 11 | Adrian Fernandez | +0.519 |
| 12 | Joel Esteban | +0.540 |
| 13 | Joel Kelso | +0.640 |
| 14 | Adrian Cruces | +0.660 |
| 15 | Rico Salmela | +0.827 |
| 16 | Casey O’Gorman | +0.936 |
| 17 | Hakim Danish | +0.988 |
| 18 | Zen Mitani | +1.112 |
| 19 | Jesus Rios | +1.115 |
| 20 | Ryota Ogiwara | +1.186 |
| 21 | Scott Ogden | +1.319 |
| 22 | Eddie O’Shea | +1.474 |
| 23 | Guido Pini | +1.561 |
| 24 | Leo Rammerstorfer | +1.667 |
| 25 | Kiattisak Singhapong | +2.399 |
| 26 | Ruche Moodley | +2.794 |
Moto3 Championship Standings
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider
|
Points
|
|
1
|
M. Quiles
|
306
|
|
2
|
A. Carpe
|
175
|
|
3
|
D. Almansa
|
174
|
|
4
|
B. Uriarte
|
174
|
|
5
|
M. Morelli
|
146
|
|
6
|
V. Perrone
|
118
|
|
7
|
H. Danish
|
101
|
|
8
|
V. Pratama
|
100
|
|
9
|
M. Bertelle
|
86
|
|
10
|
A. Cruces
|
73
|
|
11
|
G. Pini
|
70
|
|
12
|
R. Salmela
|
70
|
|
13
|
C. O’Gorman
|
69
|
|
14
|
J. Kelso
|
67
|
|
15
|
E. O’Shea
|
65
|
|
16
|
A. Fernandez
|
59
|
|
17
|
J. Esteban
|
59
|
|
18
|
D. Muñoz
|
52
|
|
19
|
J. Rios
|
49
|
|
20
|
R. Yamanaka
|
31
|
|
21
|
S. Ogden
|
30
|
|
22
|
D. Gonzalez
|
7
|
|
23
|
M. Uriarte
|
6
|
|
24
|
C. Buchanan
|
5
|
|
25
|
L. Rammerstorfer
|
4
|
|
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
|
