– Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) finished the MotoGP practice day for the 2026 San Marino Grand Prix in Misano as the fastest. In the afternoon practice, which was decisive for direct entry into Q2 on Saturday, “Bez” set the pace with a late lap time of 1:30.144 minutes.
Read more MotoGP live ticker Misano: Bezzecchi just ahead of Marc Marquez on Friday
Marc Marquez, who set the best time in the first free practice (FP1) in the morning, lined up in the afternoon with his factory Ducati as second, 0.103 seconds behind. Third fastest was brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati). The top 5 were rounded out by VR46 teammates Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli. Team owner Valentino Rossi is on site this weekend and watched the practice from the trackside.
In the Aprilia factory team, both riders, Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, for the first time used the new aerodynamics behind the seat. It took less than five minutes before Bezzecchi undercut Marc Marquez’s FP1 best time by more than 0.3 seconds. At the end of the practice, the best time set by Bezzecchi was even 1.324 seconds faster than Marquez’s FP1 best time.
Those who secured direct entry into the Q2 segment of qualifying on Saturday, besides Bezzecchi, the Marquez brothers, Di Giannantonio, and Morbidelli, also include Pedro Acosta (KTM), Luca Marini (Honda), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda), Pol Espargaro (Tech3 KTM), and Jorge Martin. (Result: MotoGP practice in Misano 2026)
For Zarco, it is only his second outing since his comeback after a serious leg injury. For Pol Espargaro, it is the third outing this season as a replacement for the injured Maverick Vinales. That Espargaro made it directly into Q2 is certainly the biggest surprise on Friday in Misano. Local hero Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) was a tiny 0.014 seconds too slow to make it directly into Q2.
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At the back of the field, which this time had only 21 riders, was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) with a large gap. The three-time Superbike world champion was more than 1.9 seconds behind the best time on Friday afternoon and more than 0.5 seconds behind teammate Jack Miller, who also struggled as second to last. Francesco Bagnaia also had (again) major problems, placing only 19th with his factory Ducati.
During the 60-minute practice, numerous lap times were once again deleted due to exceeding track limits. This has become familiar in Misano over the past years.
On Saturday in Misano, qualifying is scheduled for the morning from 10:50 am, and in the afternoon at 3:00 pm the sprint over 13 laps (MotoGP 2026 live: The weekend in Misano on TV and stream).
