Marc Márquez in “attack mode” at Aragon, but Aprilia set the fastest time

Marc Márquez was the favourite heading into the MotoGP weekend at Aragón. The Spaniard traditionally feels particularly at home on anti-clockwise circuits and initially confirmed his status as favourite impressively in FP1 on Friday morning by setting the fastest time. Although some riders took to the track on fresh tyres, number 93 held his own at the top.

In the decisive qualifying session that afternoon, however, Marquez had to concede the top spot to two rivals. Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi secured the day’s fastest time, followed by Alex Marquez. Marc therefore finished Friday in third place and was only the second-fastest Ducati rider.

Aprilia’s strong form was particularly noteworthy. In the past, Aragon has not been one of the RS-GP’s favourite circuits. Yet, with further updates, the package has been improved. Whilst Ducati has effectively halted development of the Desmosedici GP26, work on the 2026 machine continues in Noale.

Marquez is fast, but not yet as dominant as expected

Nevertheless, there was no cause for concern for Marquez: he was just 0.038 seconds off the top. “I stayed under the lap record, but I still wasn’t the fastest. That means everyone is riding extremely fast and the gaps are very small,” noted the Ducati works rider. “It’s going to be a tough weekend. But we’re competing with the top riders, and that’s the most important thing.”

Marquez had, in any case, comfortably achieved his main goal for the day. With third place, he qualified directly for Q2, thus avoiding the detour via Q1. The Spaniard had already explained at Silverstone that he’d been attacking at 100 per cent right from the start. But he paid a high price for this on race day, as he ran out of steam. In Aragon, he didn’t change this approach. “On this track you have to push hard, so I have to push hard. We’ll see how I get through it,” grinned Marquez.

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The characteristics of MotorLand work in his favour. “It’s a circuit with lots of left-hand bends, and most of the hard braking points are on the left-hand side too. That’s why I don’t think it’ll be a problem. For that reason, I was already in attack mode from FP1 onwards.”

Ducati set-up already at the limit: it’s all about the details

Marquez doesn’t see any major areas for improvement on his Ducati after Friday’s sessions. Rather, the World Championship leader is focused on fine-tuning the details. “It’s just the little things now. The bike’s base set-up is good, I feel comfortable on it, and we’re only making minor adjustments. First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll have to try something out to see if I can be a bit quicker with it.”

Marquez was particularly pleased with his consistency. “The fact that I can set very consistent lap times means I feel comfortable on the bike.” As for his main rivals for the rest of the weekend, Marquez has his sights set above all on the two riders who finished ahead of him on Friday. “Bezzecchi and Alex – those two in particular are riding very strongly at the moment,” explained the 33-year-old. At the same time, he warned against narrowing the field of competition down to just this duo: “It’s only Friday. We mustn’t forget Martin and Di Giannantonio.”

Rising temperatures are an additional unknown factor. “We need to understand how things will look with higher track temperatures, as it’s set to get warmer over the course of the weekend.”

Marc Marquez

Foto: Gold & Goose

Marquez spoke positively about the condition of the track. The new tarmac offers plenty of grip and is also very even. “Every tarmac surface is different. At Le Mans, for example, the grip is extremely high, but when the bike slides, it happens very abruptly. Here, the grip is also very good, and the transition to sliding is sharper too.”

Marquez cited Barcelona as a counter-example, where the grip level is significantly lower, but the bike begins to slide more gently. “You have to get used to that. But as we’ve seen today, it’s lovely to ride here because there are no bumps and the grip is consistent throughout.”

Radio system: Marquez expects a “better show”

On the sidelines of the racing action, Marquez also commented on MotoGP’s new radio system. He does not yet have his custom-made earplugs; on Thursday, a mould of his ears was taken as a first step.

Nevertheless, the Ducati star is quite taken with the basic concept – at least from the spectators’ point of view. “It’ll be better for the show. Whether it’ll actually be useful or not, I don’t know. But it’s definitely good for the show, because people want to see things like that.”

Strong Zarco: Marquez praises ‘the old school’

Marquez was also surprised by Johann Zarco’s strong comeback. After a three-and-a-half-month break, the Frenchman made it straight into Q2 in tenth place, making him the best-placed Honda rider.

Johann Zarco erlebte einen sehr erfreulichen Comeback-Freitag

Foto: Gold & Goose

“Sometimes it looks as though we get slower and slower the more we ride. And when you take a break, you’re suddenly fast,” joked Márquez, referring to Zarco and returnee Fermin Aldeguer. He was particularly pleased for the LCR rider: “At one point it looked as though he might miss the entire season. Now he’s here, through to Q2, the best Honda rider and the only Honda rider in Q2. So the old school still works.”