MotoGP: Both factory Ducatis outside the top 10 on an unpredictable Friday in Indonesia, with the newly crowned World Champion crashing twice in Practice.
Well, who expected that sort of Friday afternoon to unfold? There was drama aplenty as newly crowned World Champion Marc Marquez crashes twice and ends up missing the Q2 cut for the first time this season, and his Ducati Lenovo teammate Francesco Bagnaia finds himself in Q1 too on a rare forgetful day for Ducati. There were no such troubles for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) though, because the Italian was a dominant P1 ahead of Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), with no one able to get within four tenths of the #72 in Practice.
Early drama for the #93
It wasn’t the start to the session that newly crowned World Champion Marc Marquez would have been searching for. The seven-time MotoGP title winner crashed at Turn 10 in the early exchanges to leave the #93 in P17 with half an hour of Friday afternoon’s important outing gone, as KTM, Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha riders sat in the top five.
P17 then turned to P20 and last for Marc Marquez, as we saw the Spaniard crash again – and this one was bigger. Turn 5 bit as Marquez was chucked over the handlebars of his factory Ducati, in what was turning out to be a bruising afternoon for the World Champion. Two crashes in the same session for the first time since the 2024 Indonesian GP wasn’t in the script.
With 17 minutes left, Marc Marquez ventured back out on track to try and get himself back into the top 10 to keep his 100% Friday top 10 record in 2025 intact. There was also work to do on the other side of the box because Bagnaia was sat in P18 – not what we expected after what unfolded in Japan less than a week ago.
The chase for the top 10
Marquez’s first lap out of the box was good enough to promote him to P6, as Acosta went P1 ahead of Bezzecchi with a 1:29.718. Bezzecchi then returned the favour and in some style too. The Italian climbed back into P1 by a whopping four tenths to set the benchmark time at a 1:29.240, with Marc Marquez’s latest lap promoting the champion to P4 – albeit briefly.
In the final five minutes, both Bagnaia and Marc Marquez needed to find some time, and both were on track together. The #93 was shadowing the #63, with the duo in P8 and P17 respectively. Nothing came of it for Pecco on his first two efforts as Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) suffered a fast crash at Turn 12 while sitting in P6, before Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) hit the deck at Turn 3 with just over a minute to go.
Then, Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) was down at Turn 8, and those yellow flags saw Bagnaia’s latest lap cancelled, meaning the Japanese GP winner had one more go at this if he wanted to avoid Q1. And at the same time, Marc Marquez was P9.
But again, Pecco was 0.8s adrift of Bezzecchi’s lap through split number two. A personal best lap time arrived by the end of the lap but it was only good enough for P16, and after late improvements from both the Monster Energy Yamahas of Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo, Marc Marquez was dumped out of the top 10!
That 100% Friday top record vanished as Marc Marquez finds himself in Q1 for the first time since the 2024 German GP, and both factory Ducati riders found themselves in Q1 for the first time since the 2023 Valencian GP. How things can change in less than a week in MotoGP.
Your Friday top 10 in Indonesia
Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) was P4 on another positive day for HRC, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) an impressive P5 as the two Aprilias enjoy their Friday outings. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) was P6 ahead of the late improving Quartararo, with Rins next up in P8. A third Yamaha in the form of Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) heads into Q2 in P9 while Alex Marquez narrowly holds onto the final top spot in P10.
Coming up: Q1, Q2 and the Tissot Sprint
Everyone is playing catch up to Aprilia and Bezzecchi so far in Mandalika, as we strap in for what is set to be an unmissable Saturday in MotoGP. How about that for a Friday afternoon? See you tomorrow for more.