Marc Marquez was quickest in the first practice session at the season-opening Grand Prix of Thailand. The top 20 riders were under the race lap record set by Marco Bezzecchi in 2023. Franco Morbidelli was second, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller and Bezzecchi.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
2025 fires up: Marc Marquez blasts ahead of Morbidelli in Buriram FP1. The opening 45 minutes of 2025 have been banked and whilst it was the #93 out front, five manufacturers in the top nine sets us up for a belting weekend.
The talking stops, the action HAS BEGUN! Welcome to MotoGP™ in 2025 as the chequered flag comes out on the first session of the PT Grand Prix of Thailand at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram. The 25th different circuit to host a season-opening Grand Prix, it wasn’t without storylines. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) picked up from where he left off after the test and rocketed to the top of the timesheets but that doesn’t tell the full story.
With the first runs of 2025 under their belt, Marc Marquez was in full flow at the head of the field with a rapid pace, with a tenth and a half advantage over the opposition. That opposition featured some surprises though as Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) continued his outstanding performances from pre-season and was in P2. Behind, the pack was led by Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) who like Morbidelli, continued strong signs from pre-season in P3, as he and Morbidelli were two of many late session improvers. There were headline makers behind too: Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP™ made it two Yamahas in the top four ahead of Aprilia’s pre-season hero Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing).
Another Aprilia recruit was in P6 with Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP™ Team) taking top rookie honours. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP™) and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) were P7, P8 and P9 respectively, with Viñales back on-track after technical gremlins kept him in the pits for the majority of the session before ensuring all five manufacturers were inside the top ten. That top ten was completed by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who as we’ve often seen, didn’t feature at the front in Friday’s first action. He ran off at Turn 4 a couple of times and had more than seven tenths to find in comparison to new teammate Marquez.
Honda’s hard work and progress in the pre-season seemingly paid dividends as both of the Honda HRC Castrol machines featured inside the top six for most of the session. Working together on track, Luca Marini and Joan Mir were P5 and P6 respectively going into the final third of the session, before ultimately taking 12th and 13th. They were pipped by a late-improving Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) who took P11 whilst home-hero Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) concluded his first MotoGP session at home in P17, just over a second behind Marquez at the top and having featured in the top ten at points.
MotoGP’s all-important Practice session gets underway at 14:05 Local Time (UTC +7); get the full results to FP1 here!
