Marco Bezzecchi dominates Thai MotoGP practice, Pecco Bagnaia has a shocker

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi blasted the lap record to lead MotoGP Thai Grand Prix Practice by 0.421s, as Pecco Bagnaia offered the first big shock of 2026.

Aprilia has spent the winter threatening a strong start to the 2026 campaign, and came good on that promise across Friday’s two practice sessions at Buriram.

After topping FP1 on the updated RS-GP, Marco Bezzecchi carried that form into the rain-affected hour-long Practice in the afternoon.

He posted a 1m28.526s in the dying seconds of Practice, which is a new lap record, and put him over four tenths clear of the field.

Bezzecchi led reigning world champion Marc Marquez on the factory Ducati, while Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top three on the VR46-run 2026-spec Ducati.

Aprilia has put three bikes directly into Q2, with Ducati doing the same, while KTM has two riders secure into the pole shootout session on Saturday, with Honda doing the same.

Pecco Bagnaia delivered the first major shock of the 2026 season, however, as he failed to lift himself into the top 10 come the chequered flag in Practice.

He will face Q1 on Saturday morning after ending Practice 1.298s off the pace in 15th.

The threat of rain hung over the Buriram circuit throughout the entirety of the hour-long Practice, which prompted riders to largely abandon race preparation in order to ensure a top 10 place.

Bezzecchi set the early pace with a 1m29.192s, before Di Giannantonio put his VR46 Ducati top of the pile with a 1m29.191s with just over 10 minutes of the session gone.

Di Giannantonio would eventually better that time to a 1m29.010s with 15 minutes remaining, though it would not be enough to keep him top of the pile when the session ended.

Bezzecchi’s final time attack run concluded with a 1m28.526s, which put him 0.421s clear of Marc Marquez, who followed him to second.

Di Giannantonio completed the top three, 0.484s off the pace, while Pedro Acosta led the KTM charge in fourth on a 1m29.185s. Jorge Martin rounded out the top five on the sister factory team Aprilia. 

Alex Marquez was sixth on the 2026-spec Gresini Ducati, while Honda’s Joan Mir secured a direct Q2 place in seventh ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder, Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ai Ogura and LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco.

Ogura became the second faller of 2026 towards the end of Practice when he slid off at Turn 7, but was unharmed in the crash.

Luca Marini was denied a Q2 spot by just 0.024s in 11th and will go up against the likes of Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales,  Fabio Quartararo and Toprak Razgatlioglu in Q1 on Saturday morning.

Gresini stand-in Michele Pirro could face the first penalty of 2026 after he impeded team-mate Alex Marquez during a flying lap.

The incident is being investigated by the FIM stewards.

Full 2026 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix Practice results