Pedro Acosta and home rookie star Ai Ogura head the timesheets during final practice for the 2025 Japanese MotoGP
Marc Marquez was soon on top of the timesheets, then suffered a slow lowside fall at Turn 5 – which earlier caught out Fabio di Giannantonio – and became frustrated by the marshals efforts to extract his bike from the gravel.
Marquez finished third fastest, while factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia continued to build momentum with fourth place (+0.2s).
Most riders used medium front and soft rear tyres, the expected pairing for this afternoon’s Sprint race.
Qualifying 1, for those outside the top ten on Friday, including Ogura and Alex Marquez, will now begin.
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2025 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi – Saturday Free Practice ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax1Pedro AcostaSPARed Bull KTM (RC16)1’44.108s9/13317k2Ai OguraJPNTrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25)*+0.125s12/13313k3Marc MarquezSPADucati Lenovo (GP25)+0.213s4/10317k4Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo (GP25)+0.230s7/12318k5Franco MorbidelliITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP24)+0.233s9/10315k6Luca MariniITAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)+0.312s9/13316k7Marco BezzecchiITAAprilia Racing (RS-GP25)+0.413s6/15315k8Takaaki NakagamiJPNIdemitsu Honda LCR (RC213V)+0.420s4/13314k9Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.483s11/12312k10Alex MarquezSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)+0.522s7/12312k11Joan MirSPAHonda HRC Castrol (RC213V)+0.526s5/13316k12Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.536s12/13316k13Jack MillerAUSPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.559s9/12317k14Fermin AldeguerSPABK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)*+0.568s5/12314k15Jorge MartinSPAAprilia Racing (RS-GP25)+0.765s10/11313k16Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCR (RC213V)+0.774s4/11316k17Raul FernandezSPATrackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25)+0.784s4/12312k18Enea BastianiniITARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+0.831s9/12316k19Miguel OliveiraPORPramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.899s4/10316k20Maverick ViñalesSPARed Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)+0.971s10/10314k21Alex RinsSPAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+1.035s9/10312k22Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25)+1.118s6/11315k23Somkiat ChantraTHAIdemitsu Honda LCR (RC213V)*+1.838s11/11312k
* Rookie
Official Motegi MotoGP Records:
Best lap: Pedro Acosta, KTM, 1m 43.018s (2024)
Fastest race lap: Jorge Martin, Ducati, 1m 44.461s (2024)
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Marc Marquez gets his first chance to win this year’s world championship in Japan.
The Ducati Lenovo rider returns to Japan, scene of past title glory with Honda, holding a 182-point lead over younger brother Alex.
While Marc Marquez can’t be crowned champion in the Sprint race, he will wrap up his first MotoGP title since 2019 if he holds an advantage of at least 185 points over Alex on Sunday afternoon.
Marc and Alex (Gresini Ducati) are now the only riders still in world championship contention, with Francesco Bagnaia slipping 275 points behind his team-mate.
The Italian – winner of last year’s Japanese Grand Prix – now has a fight on his hands to hold third place, with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi just eight points adrift after a brilliant 1-2 (Sprint-GP) weekend in Misano.
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Meanwhile, KTM’s Pedro Acosta could be another contender after taking pole position as a rookie at the 2024 event, before crashing out of both races.
Ducati has won all five races held at Motegi since Marc Marquez’s 2019 victory for Repsol Honda, courtesy of Jack Miller (2022 GP), Jorge Martin (2023 Sprint & GP) and Francesco Bagnaia (2024 Sprint & GP).
Joan Mir and home rookie star Ai Ogura are back in action after missing the Misano test due to injuries in the San Marino race weekend.
HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami, who injured knee ligaments when he was taken down at Brno, is the second home rider on track this weekend.
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