Catch me if you can says World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) at the end of Friday’s running in Aragon. The #93’s 1:46.397 was plenty good enough to see him finish 0.204s clear of title rival Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), as Maverick Viñales sticks his Red Bull KTM Tech3 machine inside the top three to sit 0.556s adrift of Marc Marquez heading into Saturday.

How the race for a Friday top 10 played out

Heading into the pointy end of the session, Marc Marquez led the way by 0.4s over compatriot Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), with another KTM completing the provisional top three –Viñales. That four tenth gap changed dramatically with just over 12 minutes to go as the #93 slammed home a 1:46.397 – a whopping 1.1s quicker than second place Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

Acosta chopped the disadvantage down to 0.7s, with Alex Marquez the only other rider at this stage able to get within a second of the Championship leader. Simply sensational from Marc Marquez.

Viñales then joined the ‘within a second of Marc Marquez club’ with 10 minutes to go, before Alex Marquez climbed to P2 with a 1:46.907 – 0.5s away from his title rival and brother. And while a pair of Ducatis sat P1 and P2, Bagnaia was P10 with eight minutes left on the clock – work to do for the double MotoGP title winner.

On his next run, Bagnaia clocked a 1:47.292 to briefly go P5, before Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) set his Friday best to go P4. Pecco did respond on his next lap though to climb back to P4, as Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) struggled - to put it politely - to find rear grip.

The back-to-back-to-back polesitter was P18 with just over a minute to go, and after losing time in sector three, there would be no improvement – Q1 beckons for El Diablo, a disaster of a day in Aragon for Yamaha in general. 

Aragon’s automatic Q2 qualifiers

Behind the leading trio, Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) set a fantastic late lap to earn P4 and direct Q2 entry, that’s the 2020 World Champion’s best Friday result with HRC, as Acosta made it two KTMs inside the top five. Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) ended the day in a positive P6, and speaking of positive, Binder sails into Q2 in P7. That's three KTMs heading straight into Q2 for the first time since the 2024 Catalan GP. 

Rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was another rider to leap into the top 10 towards the end of the session, the #54 was P8 ahead of Pecco and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) – the latter the final Q2 qualifier on Friday.

A high-profile Q1

Aldeguer and Morbidelli’s final flying laps cost Silverstone winner Bezzecchi a top 10 place, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) also losing out late on. All five Yamahas, including Quartararo as mentioned, face the jungle that is Q1.

Up next: Tissot Sprint Saturday

Can anyone stop Marc Marquez in Aragon? We’ll find out tomorrow as we look ahead to qualifying and the Tissot Sprint in Aragon.

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The Moto2™ Championship leader reminded everyone that Silverstone is not the form guide and was straight back to where he’s been so often in 2025.

After the disappointment of the British GP, a fight back at Aragon has begun for Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), with the Championship leader P1 straight away on Friday at the end of play. Leading the charge into Q2, he’ll once again be the favourite but the gap isn’t too big, so there’s still work to be done throughout the rest of the weekend.

Championship leader Gonzalez was in good form but left it late to hit the top spot in Practice, with his penultimate lap seeing him in P1 with a 1’50.214. He headed off Silverstone podium finisher Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) who clinched second, two tenths adrift of the #18. On the podium last year at Aragon, Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was on top for the majority of the session and continued to improve throughout the session before taking third, ahead of an impressive Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team). There were late charges for Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) and Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (RW Idrofoglia Racing GP) – both of whom came racing up the order in the closing minutes – and British star Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), who was P7.

Silverstone winner Senna Agius (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) was a solid eighth place ahead of Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing), who completed the top ten in what was a positive session for the whole team. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) was next up in P11, whilst Albert Arenas (ITALJET Gresini Moto2) was 12^th.

At Turn 12, David Alonso (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) crashed, costing himself crucial time but thankfully for the Colombian, he was OK and got back out. However, he crashed again in the closing stages, this time in a much bigger fashion at Turn 9. He walked away and after late improvements, found himself close to the cut-off zone but sneaked through in P14, with super-sub Daniel Muñoz (Red Bull KTM Ajo) a mega P14 to get into Q2 directly.

 

Rueda tops Aragon Friday despite crash, big hitters face Q1

The Championship leader suffered a late crash at Turn 7 but heads Muñoz and Almansa into qualifying

Top in Free Practice 1 and top in Practice signalled a great day at the office for Moto3 World Championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) at the GoPro Grand Prix of Aragon - but it wasn't perfect. A late crash at Turn 7 put a slight dampener on the Spaniard's Friday, however, the #99's 1:57.338 was good enough to see him beat David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) by 0.078s, with David Almansa (Leopard Racing) rounding out the top three. 

Rueda was one of a handful of riders who suffered crashes in Practice. Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Viel Aspar Team) was one of those, so too was Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) - and it was crashes that proved costly as both of the impressive rookies face Q1 on Saturday afternoon. 

There were no such troubles for Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), the Spanish duo were P4 and P5 respectively, while Australia's Joel Kelso (LEVELUP - MTA) and Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) ended Practice in P6 and P7. Angel Piqueras (FRINSA - MT Helmets - MSI), Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team), and Silverstone podium finisher Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completed the top 10, with Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), Cormac Buchanan, who endured a huge exit of Turn 10 crash at the end of play, and DENSSI Racing - BOE teammate Ruche Moodley were the final top 14 finishers. 

Ogden's late lap meant Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) was pushed outside the Q2 places, so the Japanese rider joins Quiles, Pini and other stars in the Q1 fight that takes place at 12:50 local time on Saturday.