MotoGP Brazil Friday practice as it happened

KEY MOMENTS

• Honda leading Practice after 30 minutes
• Three crashes so far
• Razgatlioglu showing stunning pace in iffy conditions
• Bezzecchi 20th at halfway point

Live coverage from the opening day of practice at the 2026 Brazilian MotoGP at Goiania as MotoGP makes its return to Brazil.

FP1 saw almost all of the running completed on wet tyres. It had been delayed by an hour due to the severity of the track conditions after overnight rain stretched into this morning, and Jack Miller was the only rider to set a competitive time on slicks, going second-fastest on the final of his 16 laps on a set of medium-compound dry tyres.

Pedro Acosta finished the morning fastest on wets, while Thailand winner Marco Bezzecchi was third and reigning champion Marc Marquez was fourth.

There were no crashes in FP1, but several riders - including both Bezzecchi and Acosta, as well as Joan Mir and Toprak Razgatlioglu - had off-track excursions during the extended one-hour FP1.

None of the current riders were on the MotoGP grid when the championship last visited Brazil in 2004; the oldest rider on the 2026 grid, Johann Zarco, was only 13 when the final Rio race was held 22 years ago.

The Autodromo Internacional de Goiania has undergone a raft of upgrades to make it ready for the top level of motorcycle racing this weekend, but the layout is essentially the same as it was a year ago when three current MotoGP riders took part in a promotional event for the race that included riding laps of the circuit on production bikes. 

Those riders were Luca Marini, Diogo Moreira, and Franco Morbidelli, although a handful of laps on a production bike 12 months ago is unlikely to translate into much of a meaningful advantage by the end of this first weekend of MotoGP action at Goiania since 1989.

None of those three riders enter the second round of the season after especially auspicious openers in Thailand three weeks ago, either. Morbidelli was the third-best Ducati in the grand prix on Sunday but only eighth, Marini was only 10th, and Moreira finished his debut MotoGP race 13th and almost 25 seconds off the win.

The riders in-form coming to Brazil are most significantly Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi. Acosta leads the championship by seven points over Bezzecchi, and the Italian was dominant in his run to victory on Sunday in Thailand.

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez is renowned for his prowess on new circuits, and was the victor the last time MotoGP visited a track for the first time when he won at Balaton Park last summer. The harder construction rear tyre that was thought to have contributed to Ducati's relative lack of competitiveness in Thailand is also present in Brazil this weekend, which might work against Marquez, but perhaps even more so for Francesco Bagnaia who was only ninth over the line in Buriram despite ending the preseason in a positive mood.

Practice is due to start this afternoon at 16:00 local time.