Close battle in Misano FP1: Marc Marquez ahead of Marco Bezzecchi!

On Friday morning, the riders from the lower GP categories had acted as track dryers for the heroes of the premier class. When the track was opened at 10.45 am for the 45-minute opening session, the tarmac appeared completely dry.

Unbelievable but true: the free practice session was just 45 seconds old when Jack Miller’s Yamaha rolled into the gravel trap. As if the track were wet, the veteran rider’s front wheel suddenly slipped out from under him as he braked for Turn 4. The Australian had to resume his session on a spare bike after a delay.

Nach weniger als einer Minuten am Boden: Pramac-Yamaha-Pilot Jack Miller

Foto: Gold and Goose

Unlike at the last event at MotorLand Aragon, the Trackhouse Aprilia ridden by Ai Ogura and the Tech3 KTM ridden by Viñales were not out on the track. Both riders are absent due to injury. Whilst Espargaro is standing in for Viñales, Ogura’s bike is out of action. Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori is currently busy with 850cc test rides in Barcelona.

After ten minutes on a track that was dry but clearly not yet in perfect condition, an initial picture had emerged, dominated by the VR46 Academy riders Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and Luca Marini (Honda). Bezzecchi, who is third in the World Championship standings, 24 points behind, set the first significant time of 1:32.0 min. By way of comparison: 12 months ago, Franky Morbidelli, also a VR46 rider, had set the fastest time of 1:31.3 minutes.

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12.09.2026 - 08:35

With 35 minutes remaining in the first session, the marshals had to spring into action for the second time: KTM ace Pedro Acosta had gone off the track whilst braking for the first corner. Acosta hurried back to the Red Bull garage unharmed to rejoin the session on his second bike.

Meanwhile, the Spaniards had made their mark on the timesheet. Alex Márquez had taken second place from Marini, followed by champion Marc Márquez, Acosta and Jorge Martín. This meant that four manufacturers had secured places in the top five.

Rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu struggled to find his feet at first. ‘El Turco’, who had watched his team-mate Miller’s early crash at close quarters, was still wary of the conditions and initially stuck to orientation laps in last position.

Even at the front, lap times remained unchanged for a long time. Most riders were now out on medium race tyres to gather data. It wasn’t until the start of the second half of FP1 that local hero Bezzecchi managed the first lap in the 1:31s. LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco made a statement with the third-fastest lap time so far.

With 15 minutes remaining, there was further movement in FP1. Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, who had been involved in further verbal spats with his employer over the issue of ‘competitiveness’ following the Aragon GP, moved up to 6th place (+0.558 sec). At the very front, Marc Márquez had stepped up his pace. A time of 1:31.680 secured first place for last year’s GP winner. Behind him was the 2025 Sprint winner, Marco Bezzecchi, ahead of his team-mate Jorge Martín, Alex Márquez and Zarco.

Pol Espargaro was particularly noteworthy. With ten minutes to go, the KTM stand-in was sitting in 12th place, ahead of his brand-mates Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder. Further back, trailing by over four seconds, was Toprak Razgatlioglu.

With four minutes to go, Marco Bezzecchi struck again. With a time of 1:31.647, the Italian rider was 0.033 seconds faster than Marc Marquez, who is five points ahead of him in the World Championship standings. A minute later, Acosta squeezed into P2 – the Spaniard was two thousandths of a second faster than ‘MM93’. Then it got even closer: Johann Zarco missed out on the fastest time by 0.003 seconds – until Bezzecchi went one better: 1:31.528 minutes. Fastest time. Then came the world champion’s final response. Just as Bezzecchi had already pulled away, Marc Marquez struck back and was 0.060 seconds faster once more.

Thrilling: the top eight – Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi, Fernandez, Alex Marquez, Zarco, Acosta, Marini and Martin – were separated by just 0.267 seconds at the end of FP1. Whilst Toprak Razgatlioglu still managed 14th place in the final session, 0.7 seconds off the pace, Ducati factory rider Pecco Bagnaia once again failed to impress, finishing 18th.