How chaotic Brazil MotoGP practice has played into Marc Marquez’s hands

MotoGP’s return to Brazil for the first time in 22 years was always going to act as something of a clean slate for the field a few weeks on from the Thailand season-opener. Not a single rider on the grid had begun their grand prix careers when the Rio Grand Prix was staged in 2004 for the final time.

Nor were any of them born in 1989 when MotoGP last visited the 2.38-mile Goiania circuit, now named after Ayrton Senna following his death in 1994.

Yet, the passion for MotoGP already experienced in the city and at the track this weekend is as if the championship had never been away. It’s not been an easy build-up to the Brazilian Grand Prix. Over the winter, reports continued to surface about delays to the track works, potentially threatening a postponement to MotoGP’s long-awaited Brazil return.

As the paddock began to arrive in the city of Goiania, heavy rain had left parts of the track resembling a dirty swimming pool. Drainage at the venue is mercifully very good, but the dirt left behind led to a lengthy clean-up operation that was still ongoing on Thursday.

Track action was then delayed by an hour due to more heavy overnight rain into Friday morning, which left the circuit unsuitable to ride on as water was cleared from numerous problem areas. At around midday, however, MotoGP bikes thundered into life on a Brazilian circuit for the first time since Makoto Tamada took an emotional maiden win in Rio over two decades ago.

Though useful for understanding which way the circuit goes, Friday’s two practice sessions provided little else in the way of knowledge for the grid. Championship leader Pedro Acosta was fastest a damp FP1, while Johann Zarco was quickest in the drier first half of the hour-long Practice in the afternoon.

Such was the heavy threat of rain around, everyone was focused fully on securing an all-important top 10 spot on the timesheets to guarantee a place directly in Q2 for Saturday morning’s qualifying session.

Zarco, perhaps unsurprisingly after his Le Mans heroics last season, eased on through. As did Marc Marquez, while Toprak Razgatlioglu benefitted from the conditions, lack of track knowledge for everyone, his size and, most importantly, the raw talent that took him to three World Superbike titles to secure a sensational third.

The big shock of the session was the notable absence of Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi from the top 10. After a solid morning, in which he was nearly fastest in the damp FP1, the Thailand winner’s form completely deserted him in Practice. He could no more than 20th and facing the minefield that is Q1.

Ducati dealt big opportunity to quell Aprilia’s charge

Ducati had its nose bloodied in Thailand, and it didn’t really understand why. The stiffer rear tyre carcass brought by Michelin to cope with the heat demands of the Buriram track had tripped the brand’s factory riders up in Mandalika last season, but had been working fine throughout testing.

Team manager Davide Tardozzi insisted that Ducati’s engineers had been hard at work investigating what went wrong and was sure there wouldn't be a repeat in Brazil, despite the stiffer Austria and Buriram carcasses being used across three rear options this weekend.

But just what the problem actually was, Ducati has remained tight-lipped. In some ways, then, having virtually no representative running on Friday in Goiania is a bit of a concern because it hasn’t been able to see where it is with the current tyre range.

Marc Marquez offered some protestation on Thursday that he’s no longer the best at acing new tracks because he no longer possesses the recklessness of youth he had a decade ago: “It's true that when I was 20, 25, I was adapting super quick. Now, I believe that I can adapt quick. But it's true that normally a young rider can adapt quicker to the new situation than an experienced rider. Because you have that point of just go by instinct. But we will try to follow our instinct and to be fast from the beginning.”

That kind of proved false on Friday afternoon, as he was quick from the outset on slick tyres on a track steadily being peppered by rain spots. His GP26 was dancing underneath him as he lap-by-lap pushed the limits of the grip the Goiania track wanted to offer up. His 1m21.382s was just 0.125s slower than Zarco’s benchmark.

"It was a day of improvisation, both because it was a new track and because of the conditions we encountered, and those circumstances are my strong point. That's why it turned out to be a good day,” he said. “This track requires two different riding styles. Sector one is about flowing, like Montmelo or Malaysia, circuits that I don't do well on. And then there are sectors two and three, which are more technical, where you have to be more precise.”

But that doesn’t necessarily back up Ducati’s claims that it should be able to avoid a repeat of what happened in Thailand. Marquez narrowly missed out on pole at Buriram, was on course to win the sprint and was probably going to finish at least third in the grand prix before his wheel failure.

The next-best Ducati in Practice on Friday was Alex Marquez, 0.538s off the pace, while Pecco Bagnaia didn’t look entirely comfortable in ninth, 0.710s off the pace and a spot behind the returning Fermin Aldeguer - whose entire bike time in 2026 amounts to the two hours of running he’s had os far in Brazil.

That said, the risk of losing a place in Q2 due to one mistake - as Diogo Moreira, Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli found out - was such in Practice on Friday that the other Ducati’s were keeping more in reserve. Marc Marquez’s ability to feel out sketchy conditions is an instinct he has had his entire career and one not so easily copied.

Bagnaia insists he was happy with how his bike felt in the conditions, especially compared to the GP25. He blamed much of his time loss on not being quick enough through Turns 9 and 10: the fast right onto a small straight, followed by a fast left.

“I like the bike, it gives me a good feeling,” he told Sky Italy. “In these situations last year I was extremely struggling, whereas today, both this morning on the damp track and this afternoon on the dry, I was happy…I knew I did really badly in the 9-10, I looked at the data, and unfortunately, they confirm that I did extremely badly. But all in all, everything else was good.”

However, if Ducati is still on the back foot, the complete lack of long-running information and dry track time will keep that playing field level throughout Saturday and possibly even into Sunday if more rain arrives. That’s something that plays into Marquez's advantage the most, even if the layout doesn’t suit his style, not least with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi fumbling big time on Friday afternoon.

What went wrong for Bezzecchi on Friday in Brazil?

Aprilia’s strong start to the 2026 campaign should be a genuine cause for concern for Ducati, not least in Brazil, given how well the RS-GP was able to work Michelin’s harder rear tyre carcass. Indeed, Aprilia was fast on Friday, as Jorge Martin finished fourth as he continues to grow in confidence on the bike.

Ai Ogura also squeaked through into a Q2 spot in 10th. But Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez, both first and third in Thailand, were nowhere to be seen in Practice.

Bezzecchi was 2.043s off the pace in 20th, 0.601s clear of Fernandez behind him. Looking at the best sector times, Bezzecchi was second-quickest through the first split. He was then around 0.8s slower than the fastest in sector two, a shade under 0.8s shy in sector three and then just over 0.2s down in the very short final split.

The tyres, as well as the layout, were all meant to play into Bezzecchi’s favour ahead of this weekend. However, that so far hasn’t been the case, with the Italian struggling when Ducati looks to be off to a better start, while Pedro Acosta is in a good position to extend his championship lead on the KTM after a Friday in which he played the odds and kept his powder dry.

Bezzecchi explained: “In the afternoon, especially on the first run, which was the most favourable for setting a fast lap due to the weather, something wasn't right with the Aprilia. But we still don't know what it is.”

When Bezzecchi did get back out, the window to set a good lap had closed. In theory, he should have pace enough to get out of Q1. But nothing is ever certain in that opening 15-minute segment of qualifying and Bezzecchi’s weekend still hangs in the balance.

Yamaha offered a moment of respite amid difficult V4 birth

If you had any money on Yamaha making its first Q2 appearance of the season in Brazil, then enjoy your sizable winnings. Fabio Quartararo wasn’t exactly bubbling with optimism on Thursday when probed about the possibility for Yamaha to sneak a decent result given the level playing field.

Nevertheless, the iffy conditions were a door to opportunity that Pramac Yamaha rookie and three-time World Superbike champion Toprak Razgatlioglu burst through to deliver a stunning third in Practice.

Quickly adapting to changeable conditions is a strength of the Turkish superstar, while his size almost certainly helped him get more out of the Yamaha in wet conditions. Quartararo was similarly impressive, dragging his V4 to seventh in Practice.

“We know what we have, and that's why we have to take advantage of these opportunities that come our way, in delicate conditions and on a new track,” the Frenchman said.

Yamaha will need the weather to remain unpredictable for the rest of the weekend to gain anything substantial out of the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, for a moment at least, it has something to celebrate.