Marco Bezzecchi topped MotoGP World Championship Free Practice One (FP1) Friday morning at Chang International Circuit, in Thailand. Riding his Michelin-shod Aprilia Racing RS-GP26, the Italian turned a lap of 1:29.346 around the 2.83-mile (4.55 km) track and led the 22-rider field.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was second-best with a 1:29.456 on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati Desmosedici GP26.
Bezzecchi’s teammate, Jorge Martin was third with a lap of 1:29.551.
2025 MotoGP World Champion, Marc Marquez finished the opening session in 6th with a lap time of 1:29.772 on his Ducati Lenovo Desmosedici GP26.
His teammate, Francesco Bagnaia was 7th with a 1:29.791.
More from a press release issued by MotoGP:
Less than a second cover the top 13 and all five manufacturers as MotoGP’s first Grand Prix weekend ignites in the Thai heat.
MotoGP 2026: blast off! Buriram welcomed the riders back to the track after testing to the point we’ve all been waiting for – bikes on track in anger. Our first in-depth looking at who’s hot and who’s not for the year ahead and in FP1, it was reflective of the test. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) laid down the gauntlet early on to give the rest of the field something to ponder going into the afternoon.
On just his third lap of FP1, ‘Bez’ set a 1’29.346s to go top of the standings and lead the way for Aprilia, picking up from where he left off in testing. Fabio DI Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was the meat in an Aprilia sandwich, taking second with an improvement towards the end of the session. For Jorge Martin’s first Thai GP Aprilia weekend, it started with a small crash just ten minutes into the session at Turn 12. ‘The Martinator’ was back up and all OK, on his way to third come the chequered flag. Three Aprilias inside the top four as Buriram specialist from 2025 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) secured fourth, one place ahead of KTM’s leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) got his season off and running with sixth at Buriram in FP1, a solid start just one place ahead of his teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Pecco, just 0.019s behind Marquez, set 19 laps compared to the #93’s 21 but both harness valuable information for the afternoon’s Practice. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was eighth ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), who made it four manufacturers in the top ten.
Yamaha’s best representative was Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in 13thwhilst for the rookies, Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) was 16th and reigning WorldSBK Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was 21st.
