Marc Marquez, 2025 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose
Marc Marquez, 2025 MotoGP Thai Grand Prix. Credit: Gold and Goose
© Gold and Goose

2025 Thai MotoGP, Buriram: Friday Practice as it happened

Recap Friday practice for the season-opening 2025 Thai MotoGP round at Buriram.

The 2025 M♚otoGP season begins with a pair of Friday practice sessions at Buriram, the second of which will decide the top ten for direct Qualifying 2 access.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin remains absent after suffering further hand injuries in training earlier this week and is replaced by Aprilia test 🌠rider Lorenzo Savadori.

But Fabio di Giannantonio - also injured on day one of ℱthe Sepang test - is back for VR46.

Marc Marquez was fastest at the recent Buriram pre-season test, where he also deli🍨vered a peerless race simulation. The new Ducati Lenovo rider topped the timesheets ahead of brother Alex Marquez (Gresini), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and Pedro Acosta (KTM).

Last year’s title runner-up Francesco Bagnaia was fifth, as the factory Ducati team committed to keeping the GP2▨4 engine, followed by the top Honda of Joan Mir with Fabio Quartararo in eighth for 🌄Yamaha.

FP1 takes place f🦋rom 10:45 to 11:30am local time with afternoon practiceও from 3-4pm.

09:03

So, it's♐ Alex Marquez from Marc Marquez at the top of Practice and Acosta third.

Bezzecchi takes fourth, ahead of M🍌orbidelli, Mir, Fe♏rnandez, Quartararo, Ogura, and Zarco.

Vinales, Binder, and most notably Bagnaia all mꦯiss out and will have to contend with Q1 tomorrow morning.

09:02

Marc Marquez has just been bumped to second at the death there by his brother, Alex, who top🧜s Practice with a 1:29.020.

09:01

Bagnaia on another lap now but it's gone away in the third sector thanks to Franco Morbidelli who wa🌺s - not for the first time - cruising on the line.

08:59

Bagnaia now back to 11th thanks to an Oguraꦡ lap that put the rookie eighth.

08:59

Bagnaia has had ဣhis lap de♐leted for yellow flags and is back to 10th. Bezzecchi meanwhile has crashed at turn three.

08:58

Bagnaia up to sev🍷enth with his first lap, almost 0.3s off♔ the top time of Marquez, though.

08:57

According to the timin♕g screens, Bagnaia is out for his final t༒ime attack on a 3-lap-old soft tyre.

08:56

Bezzecchi up to second place, now, and Bagnaia is now down to 10𒉰th and on the Q2 bubb🙈le.

08:55

Second time attacks beginning now.

Quartararo up to third with the first lap on his second tyre🍃, but he's bumped to fourth as Morbidelli goes second.

08:53

Bagnaia was on a personal best at the third sector on his second flying lap on his first tyre but he's pitted. He's ninth෴ ahead of the final tim♐e attacks. 

Just under seven minutes to go.

08:52

Not a brilliant fꦡirst lap from Bagnaia - only ninౠth and 0.5s off the pace.

08:51

Ogura into the top 10 in ninth, and now Bagnaia iꦫs delivering his first time attack.

08:50

Marquez extends his advantage at the top with a 29.197, then Alex Marquez🔴 goes up to second with a 𒐪29.400.

08:48

Marquez's first t꧑ime attack takes him back to the top, a 1:29.374 puts him clear by 0.124s over Acosta.

08:47

Acosta finally🐻 beats Zarco's time with a 1:29.509 and goes to the top and Morbidelli goes second.

08:47

Brad Binde rup to s𝔉econd with his first time attack lap. 1:29.804 for the KTM rider, but faster laps coming behind.

Quartararo third, and Acosta is on the way too.

08:43

Marini into the 1:29s witᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚh his latest lap. Looks like a time attack with a fresh soft tyre but he's behind Marquez, who hasn't done a hot lap yet.

08:39

𒁏Marquez done with that run now, still only f♏our laps on that tyre. He did run wide at turn four, so perhaps something he wants to change.

08:38

Another 29.9 for Marquez. It's a good tenth or two better than we've seen in terms of race pace from 🐲anyone else.

08:36

Marc Marquez now out on a fresh hard compound re🍎ar tyre and going rather quickly. Just♒ went away at the end of the lap there for Marquez but it's still a 1:29.9; but in the meantime Johann Zarco goes fastest on a 1:29.624.

08:32

Just under half-an-hour to go in Practice now, and it's still Marquez who leads. Bagn෴aia and Acosta both lapping in the low-1:30s at the moment, but Acosta is running with the hard rear tyre, Bagnaia the medium.

And as we say that, looks like Bagnaia is done with this♍ run.

08:29

Bagnaia now doing some race running. Pace seemingly a couple of tenths shy of Marquez's but༺ he's about comparable with Ac💜osta in low-1:30s.

08:28

Joan Mir doing his best Toprak Razgatlioglu impression with a seemingly intentional stoppie braking for the final corner. Not the smoothest la𝐆nding for the rear tyre, but this is looking increasingly promising for HRC and Mir, who actually looks relatviely comfortable on the RC213V for perhaps the first time since he jumped on it at the end of 2022.

08:25

Somkiat Chantra lapping in the low-1:36s at the moment and is the only Honda ridꦓer still running that pilot whale-ish ꦕtail unit.