Marc Marquez secures fastest practice time ahead of three Italians – The new Yamaha V4 is 1.2 seconds behind – Plus a harmless crash by Augusto Fernandez
Marc Marquez (Ducati) finished the practice day for the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano at the top. Behind the dominator of the 2025 MotoGP season were three Italians: Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati), and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) (see results).
Initially, with ideal weather conditions and an asphalt temperature of around 40 degrees Celsius, the focus was on preparing for the race. Most of the riders completed laps on medium rear tires to evaluate tire degradation.
Four riders in the leading group worked with the soft rear tire: Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini (Tech3-KTM), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati). As on Sunday in Barcelona, Bagnaia again used the older, shorter Öhlins front fork.
At Honda, Joan Mir and Luca Marini worked with a new exhaust and modified rear aerodynamics. A new feature was a side air deflector behind the seat, reminiscent of an Aprilia solution. Johann Zarco (LCR) also had the new parts.
Before qualifying began, Marc Marquez led the standings, just ahead of the VR46 duo. Bezzecchi, Marini, and Pedro Acosta (KTM) followed in the top spots. Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) and Bagnaia were three-tenths of a second behind.
Updated bits and pieces spotted @hrc_motogp SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/NbiqWljIAF
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 12, 2025
After the first qualifying attempts, Marc Marquez was just ahead of Bezzecchi. Bagnaia was third, three tenths of a second behind. Three minutes before the end of practice, Mir crashed in turn 10 (Tramonto). At that point, the former world champion was fifth.
Moments later, yellow flags were waved in the fourth sector. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia) had crashed in turn 15. Shortly afterwards, Jack Miller (Pramac-Yamaha) crashed in the first sector, causing yellow flags to be waved again.
Marc Marquez was unable to improve on his second qualifying attempt, but his 1:30.480 minutes was enough for the fastest time on Friday. Bezzecchi was second, 0.147 seconds behind. Morbidelli moved up to third place at the end.
@88jorgemartin finds his way into the 1:30s
The reigning World Champion leaps to 6th!SanMarinoGP pic.twitter.com/DVMeTKldQy— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) September 12, 2025
Bagnaia and Alex Marquez finished fourth and fifth, less than three tenths of a second behind. The Honda duo Mir and Marini secured Q2 spots with sixth and seventh place.
World champion Jorge Martin was pulled along by his Aprilia teammate Bezzecchi to set the eighth fastest time. With Acosta in ninth place, only one KTM rider made it directly into Q2. Di Giannantonio completed the top 10.
Augusto Fernandez with the new V4 Yamaha
Quartararo missed out on direct Q2 qualification by just over a tenth of a second in twelfth place. He was six tenths of a second off the pace. Much attention continued to be focused on the new V4 Yamaha.
After the first run, Augusto Fernandez was 1.7 seconds off the pace and 1.3 seconds behind Quartararo. In his second run, the Yamaha test rider reduced the gap to the front to 1.5 seconds. Four minutes before the end of practice, Augusto Fernandez crashed at the apex of Turn 2. The new Yamaha slid into the gravel trap and was not badly damaged. In the end, his best time was 1:31.678 minutes, 1.198 seconds off the front.
To put that into perspective, Quartararo was only six tenths of a second faster. Augusto Fernandez finished 19th, just ahead of Alex Rins and well ahead of Pramac teammate Miguel Oliveira, who had a difficult day after two crashes in the morning.
On Saturday, the final practice session will start at 10:10 a.m., followed by qualifying at 10:50 a.m. The 13-lap sprint will start as usual at 3 p.m.
