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 MotoGP season begins with a pair of Friday practice sessions at Buriram, the second🌳 of which wi🐻ll 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 t♚est rider Lorenzo Savadori.

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

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

Last year’s title runner-up Francesco Bagnaia was fifth, as the factory Ducati team committed to keeping the GP24 engine, followed by the top Honda of Joan 🍸Mir with Fabio Quartararo in eighth for Yamaha🌜.

FP1 takes plaꦍce from 10:45 to 11:30am local time with afternoon practice from 3-4pmꦜ.

09:03

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

Bezzecchi ta𓆉kes fourth, ahead of Morbide🦩lli, Mir, Fernandez, Quartararo, Ogura, and Zarco.

Vinales, Binder, and most notably Bagnaia all miss out and will have to contend wi🍰th Q1 tomorrow morning.

09:02

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

09:01

Bagnaia on another lap now but it's gone away in the thir😼d sector thanks to Franco Morbidelli who was - not for the first time - cruising on the line.

08:59

Bagnaia now back to 11th thanks to an Ogura lap that put the rook💮ie eigh൩th.

08:59

Bagn🏅aia has had his lap deleted for yel💖low 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 timing screens, Bagnaia is out for his final time attack on a 3-la🐻p-old soft tyre.

08:56

Bezzec༒chi up to second place, now, and 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 Morbidelliꦓ goes second.

08:53

Bagnaia was on a personal best at the third sector on his second flying lap on his f❀irst tyre but he's pitted. He's ninth ahead of the final time attacꦫks. 

Just under seven minutes to go.

08:52

Not a brilliant firsꦆt lap from B🔴agnaia - only ninth and 0.5s off the pace.

08:51

Ogura into the top 10 in ninth, a🐬nd now Bagnaia is delivering his first t🐬ime attack.

08:50

Marquez extends his advantage at the top with a 29.197,꧙ then Alex Marquez goes up to second with a 29.400.

08:48

Ma🐭rquez's first time attack takes him back to the top, a 1:29.374 puts him clear by 0.124s over Acosta.

08:47

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

08:47

Brad Binde rup to second with his first time attack lap. 1:29.80🐲4 for th༒e KTM rider, but 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 four laps on that tyre. He did run wide at turn four, s♒o💫 perhaps something he wants to change.

08:38

Another 29.9 for Marquez. It's a gooꦍd 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 rear tyre and going rather quickly. ꦫJust went away at the end of the lap there for Marq🐼uez 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 A෴costa 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, lo꧙oks like Bagnaia is done with t💞his run.

08:29

Bagnaia now doing some race running. Pace seemingly a couple of tenths shy of Marquez's but he's about ൩comparable with Acosta 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 landing for the rear tyre, but this is looking increasingly promisin𒁃g 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 isﷺ the only Honda rider still running that pilot whale-ish tail unit.