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 MotoG༒P season begins with a pair of Friday practice sessions at Buri𝔍ram, the second of which will decide the top ten for direct Qualifying 2 access.

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

But Fabio di Gianna🐼ntonio - also injured on day one of the Sepang test - is back for VR46.

Marc Ma𒐪rquez was fastest at the recent Buriram pre-season test, where he also delivered a peerless race simu♚lation. 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 factᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚory Ducati team committed to keeping the GP24 engine, followed by the top Honda of Joan Mir with Fabio Quartararo in eighth for Yam🐻aha.

FP1 takes place from 10:45 to 11:30am local time with afternoon𒀰 practice from 3-4pm.

09:03

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

Bezzecchi 🏅takes fourth, a꧂head of Morbidelli, Mir, Fernandez, Quartararo, Ogura, and Zarco.

Vinales, Bin🌳der, and most notably Bagnaia all miss out and will have to contend with Q1 tomorrow morning.

09:02

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

09:01

Bagnaia on another lapꦓ now but it's gone away in the third sector thanks to Franco Morbidelli who was - not for the first time - c💛ruising on the line.

08:59

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

08:59

Bagnaia has had his lap deleted for yellow flags and is back to 10th. Bezzecchi mean𝄹while has crashed at turn three.

08:58

Bagnaia up to seventh with his first lap, almost 0.3s off the top tim🍬e of Marquez, though.

08:57

Accordin🉐g to the timing screens, Bagnaia is out for his final tim🦂e attack on a 3-lap-old soft tyre.

08:56

Bezzꦰecchi up to second place, now, a🎃nd Bagnaia is now down to 10th and on the Q2 bubble.

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 secondඣ.

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 time attacks. 

Just under seven minutes to go.

08:52

Not a brilliant first lap from Bagnaiaﷺ꧂ - only ninth and 0.5s off the pace.

08:51

Ogura into the top 10 in ninth, and now Baꦆgnaia is delivering his first time at💎tack.

08:50

Marquez extends his advantage at the top wi꧋th a 29.197, then Alex Marquez goes up to second with a 29.400.

08:48

Marquez's first time attackꦑ takes him ꦏback 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 1:29.509ꦇ and goes to the top and 🅺Morbidelli goes second.

08:47

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

Quartararo third, and Acosta is on the way too.

08:43

Marini into the 🌜1:29s with 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

Marquez done with that run now, still only fou🐓r laps on that tyre. He did ru🌊n 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 t🧸han we've seen in terms of race pace from anyone else.

08:36

Marc Marquez now out 🎉on a fresh hard compound rear 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. Bagnaia and Acosta 🍌bo💝th 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 a🌳bout comparable with Acosta in low-1:30s.

08:28

Joan Mir doing his best Toprak Razgatlioglu impression with a seemi🌠ngly intentional stoppie braking for the final corner. Not the smoothest landing for the rear tyre, but this is looking increasingly promising for HRC a🌃nd 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 t𒊎he only Honda rider still running that pilot whale-ish tail unit.