02:53
Dorna's pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard says Johann Zarco now finally has the new parts available to the HRC team for several events. Wild-card Takaaki Nakagami has a larger 'salad box' on the back of his bike,
Marc Marquez
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2025 Japanese MotoGP, Motegi: Friday Practice - LIVE
Live updates from Friday practice at 2025 Japanese MotoGP at Motegi, where Marc Marquez has his first chance to win this year’s world championship.
The Ducati Lenovo rider returns to Japan, scene of past title glory with Honda, holding a 182-point lead over younger brother Alex.
While Marc Marquez can’t be crowned champion in the Sprint race, he will wrap up his first MotoGP title since 2019 if he holds an advantage of at least 185 points over Alex on Sunday afternoon.
Marc and Alex (Gresini Ducati) are now the only riders still in world championship contention, with Francesco Bagnaia slipping 275 points behind his team-mate.
The Italian – winner of last year’s Japanese Grand Prix - now has a fight on his hands to hold third place, with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi just eight points adrift after a brilliant 1-2 (Sprint-GP) weekend in Misano.
Meanwhile, KTM's Pedro Acosta could be another contender after taking pole position as a rookie at the 2024 event, before crashing out of both races.
26 Sep 2025
02:55
Two crashes in quick succession: Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi. Fernandez at Turn 7 and Bezzecchi at the end of the back straight, after losing the front on the soft tyre. Both OK.
02:52
3 laps completed and Francesco Bagnaia is fastest from Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi is setting the early pace.
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02:50
All riders are out on the medium rear tyre, with a mix of hard and soft front tyres - that's not a surprise as riders usually save their preferred tyres for later in the weekend, in this case the medium front.
02:45
The green lights are on and MotoGP FP1 at Motegi is underway.
02:43
While all eyes will be on Marc Marquez, FP1 might be more significant for Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, who is hoping the 'unconventional' change to his GP25 at the Misano test will carry over to Motegi.
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02:38
Next up it's MotoGP FP1, where Marc Marquez starts his first potential title-winning weekend since 2019.
02:33
The chequered flag is out for the Moto2 session. Jake Dixon is fastest and under the lap record.
02:22
In terms of tyres, most of the allocation is the same as last year's event, although the introduction of a new hard compound front means last year's hard (used by almost all riders in both races) is now the medium, and the former medium becomes the soft.
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02:20
There will be 23 MotoGP riders on track today: The 22 full-time competitors plus HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami, who is making his fourth appearance of the season - but first after the knee ligament injuries at Brno.
Nakagami is the second home rider present, alongside Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura.
02:16
The Moto2 class are currently halfway through their opening practice session, taking place in dry and sunny conditions, with an air temp of 28 degrees.
The weather forecast is generally good, but with a 10-20% risk of rain at some stage over the weekend.
02:12
Good morning from Crash.net's live coverage of Friday MotoGP practice for the 2025 Japanese MotoGP.
Here is a recap of Friday's track schedule for the premier-class:
10:45am (local) - MotoGP FP1
3pm (local) - MotoGP Practice
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