Marco Bezzecchi Outpaces Marc Marquez in Friday Practice at San Marino MotoGP

Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia Racing claimed the top spot during the Friday practice session for the 2026 San Marino Grand Prix at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, clocking a benchmark lap of 1 minute 30.144 seconds. According to reports from the track, Bezzecchi edged out Ducati Lenovo’s Marc Marquez by a narrow margin of 0.103 seconds to secure provisional dominance ahead of the weekend’s competitive rounds.

Tight Margins at the Top in Misano

The high-intensity afternoon session saw the top ten riders finish within a compressed window of less than six-tenths of a second. Marc Marquez, who had previously set the pace during the morning free practice session with a 1:31.468, rebounded from an intermediate dip to finish second with a 1:30.247. BK8 Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez completed the top three, posting a 1:30.329 to maintain a strong presence for the Ducati stable.

Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing placed fourth and fifth respectively, while Red Bull KTM’s Pedro Acosta secured sixth with a 1:30.488. Rounding out the direct qualifiers for Q2 were Luca Marini of HRC Castrol in seventh, Johann Zarco of LCR Honda in eighth, Pol Espargaro of Red Bull KTM Tech3 in ninth, and Aprilia’s Jorge Martin in tenth, who squeezed through with a 1:30.690.

Contrasting Fortunes for Factory Contenders

While the upper echelons of the timing sheets remained fiercely contested, defending the front line proved challenging for several notable contenders. Francesco Bagnaia encountered major difficulties during the afternoon running, slipping to 19th position with a time of 1:31.459—leaving the Italian factory rider more than 1.3 seconds adrift of Bezzecchi’s benchmark and forcing a difficult climb through the Q1 repechage.

Meanwhile, Pramac Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu faced an uphill battle on track, finishing the practice session at the tail end of the field with a 1:32.071. Reports noted that early temperature management struggles compounded the rider’s difficulties in finding competitive pace against the established front-running prototypes.