Marc Marquez led MotoGP World Championship practice Friday afternoon at Termas de Río Hondo, in Argentina. Riding his Lenovo Ducati Desmosedici GP25 on spec Michelin tires, the six-time World Champion turned a lap time of 1:37.295. Not only was that good enough to lead the 22-rider field, it was also good enough to eclipses his own 2014 All-Time Lap Record of 1:37.683.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best of the rest with a 1:37.430 on his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati Desmosedici.
Alex Marquez was third at 1:37.496 on his BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP Desmosedici, making it three Ducatis in the front row.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Marc Marquez delivers on Friday, Bagnaia narrowly avoids Q1. The #93 danced to a familiar tune in Termas to end Day 1 on top from Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez as every manufacturer finds Q2 form on Friday.
The #93 on top in Termas – we’ve heard it before, and it was a familiar story on Friday at the 2025 Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) tangoed his way to the timesheet summit in Practice as everyone chases the Spaniard’s GP25 tailpipes heading into Tissot Sprint Saturday. A late corker from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and a consistent Friday from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini MotoGP) see the Italian and Spaniard sit as the title chase leader’s main early contenders, as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) narrowly avoids another Q1 showing following a Turn 2 crash in the closing minutes.
HOW IT UNFOLDED ON FRIDAY
Just as he did in the morning outing, Marc Marquez quickly clambered his way to the Practice timesheets summit on Friday afternoon, with Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) keeping the #93 company up at the sharp end with 25 minutes left on the clock.
Having produced a more than fine day in Free Practice 1 and for the first half of Practice, Zarco’s weekend hit a bump when the Frenchman crashed unhurt at Turn 2. At this stage, Zarco was P3 behind Marquez and Bezzecchi, with Alex Marquez P4. With 20 minutes to go, Bagnaia was sat in P10, seven tenths away from his teammate.
One of the first riders to slot a fresh soft Michelin rear tyre in was Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The sophomore climbed to P2, 0.088s shy of Marquez’s effort, before the oldest lap record in MotoGP was bettered. Bezzecchi’s 1:37.510 was good enough to send Marc Marquez’s 2014 effort packing, as plenty of improvements started rolling in. Bagnaia and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) were now P4 and P5, with Zarco now down in P8.
Bezzecchi’s lap record didn’t last long though. Marc Marquez put his name back next to the number one with a 1:37.438, with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) shadowing the World Championship leader to help him leap up to P4.
Heading into the final five minutes, Bagnaia wasn’t desperate for a lap time but the Italian was P6. In other words, not safely into Q2 yet. And then, it was session over for the double MotoGP World Champion. Turn 2 bit, Bagnaia slid into the gravel, and that was all she wrote for the #63 who now had an anxious wait to see if he’d avoid a second consecutive Q1 appearance.
After his early session issues, Fabio Quartararo put his Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP machine in P5 to demote Bagnaia to P7. Binder and Zarco then shoved Bagnaia to P9 with less than a minute left, as Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) pinched a late P10 – but it wasn’t session done yet. A late Rins flyer saw Ogura get shuffled out the automatic Q2 places, as Bagnaia survived needing to go through Q1 by the skin of his teeth.
YOUR AUTOMATIC Q2 QUALIFIERS
Marquez’s final flying lap sees the six-time MotoGP World Champion sit over a tenth clear of the late improving Di Giannantonio, with Alex Marquez, Bezzecchi and Binder the top five at the end of play. Rins, Zarco and Quartararo make sure both Japanese manufacturers have something to shout about so far in Termas, as Acosta and Bagnaia scrape through. Crucial for both of those riders.
COMING UP: QUALI AND TISSOT SPRINT SATURDAY IN TERMAS
Storylines aplenty then heading into Saturday at the Argentina GP. Bagnaia will be wanting a better day at the office, Q1 will be a jungle – as always – with Ogura fronting the pecking order in the opening 15 minutes of qualifying, and then there’s the obvious question: can anyone stop Marc Marquez?
Find out if that answer is ‘yes’ in qualifying at 10:50 local time (UTC -3), before the second Tissot Sprint of the season rears its head at 15:00.