Alex Marquez spend Friday afternoon working with harder tires than the three riders who finished in front of him in the final session, and did his time attack with a hard front Michelin slick that had four laps on it. The three riders in front of him – Pedro Acosta, Marco Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli – all threw on new soft slicks front and rear for their final runs, and Morbidelli actually did two runs with new soft slicks on both ends.

The factory KTMs flew in a straight line, with Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta tied at the top of the speed chart at 211.452 mph (340.3 kph). 

Two-time World Champion Francesco Bagnaia’s up-and-down season continued on Friday in Valencia. Bagnaia’s bike was tied with two other Ducatis on top speed – a full 6.2 mph (10 kph) slower than the factory KTMs – and finished the day 14th. The Ducatis of Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer were the three slowest bikes through the speed trap, all clocked at 205.363 mph (330.5 kph) – with the exception of the still-in-development Yamaha V-4 entered for test rider Augusto Fernandez.

Factory Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins were 10th and 17th in the final practice session, while Prima Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller, who was fastest in the first practice session, finished sixth. Miller has been quick in the past at Valencia, and he looked comfortable, doing his time attack on a hard front tire with five laps on it at the start of the run.

Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi was quickest through the first two sectors, while Acosta topped the final two sectors. Bezzecchi stayed on the soft rear tire the entire afternoon and finished second. Trackhouse Racing Aprilia’s Ai Ogura tried the medium rear in the afternoon but quickly switched back to the soft rear tire and ended up fifth.

It was a good afternoon in Moto3 for Honda, which has had a difficult season in the minor class. Honda has won only one of the 21 races so far, has frequently been locked out of the podium spots, and KTM ripped off 19 wins in a row before Honda Team Asia’s Taiyo Furusato won in Malaysia. But on Friday, Leopard Racing’s Honda-mounted David Almansa and Adrian Fernandez were a solid 1-2 in practice, with Almansa setting a new lap record and finishing 0.489 seconds clear of third-placed Valentin Perrone, who was the closest KTM-mounted rider.