The 2026 MotoGP season continues this weekend with round eight at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Just seven days on from the last race at Mugello, the paddock has headed to Balaton Park as the title battle continues to rage.
This marks the second visit to Balaton Park, following its debut on the calendar last year as it staged MotoGP's first Hungarian Grand Prix since 1992.
Aprilia comes into the seventh round of the season off the back of a 1-2 on home soil at Mugello, with Marco Bezzecchi leading Jorge Martin.
Bezzecchi has extended his championship lead to 17 points over Martin coming to Hungary, as this title battle continues to look like being an all-Aprilia affair.
Bezzecchi was on the podium at Balaton Park last year, while Martin enjoyed his best result of a troubled season with a ride to fourth.
Marc Marquez was the winner in Hungary last year, and remains the favourite for some coming into this weekend. However, he has ruled this out as he continues to rebuild his strength following surgery on his shoulder.
KTM will be hoping to replicate its podium form from last year, while the shorter, stop-and-go nature of the track, should keep the field tight throughout the weekend.
Cal Crutchlow returns as Johann Zarco's stand-in at LCR Honda, while former Tech3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona has been called up to replace Alex Marquez at Gresini.
2026 MotoGP Hungarian Grand Prix: Friday schedule
FP1 - 9:45am BST
Practice - 2pm BST
Good lap from Toprak to be fourth on the Yamaha right now. Still on old medium tyres, though a new soft on the front.
Toprak knows this circuit from WorldSBK and it suits his stop-and-go style. Could be a good weekend for him to gain understanding of Michelin's front tyre.
Standings with 15 minutes to go:
Marquez goes even faster with a 1m38.626s.
Marquez goes top with a 1m39.003s.
Marquez was on a lap that would have sent him to the top of the timesheets, but ran across the chicane at Turn 15.
Doesn't look like a comfortable ride for Bezzecchi so far this morning. He's having some stability issues on his RS-GP. He's down in 10th at the moment.
Lecuona is currently 19th, 2.7s off the pace.
Crutchlow, in his first laps of Balaton, is last, 4.1s off the pace.
Standings with 30 minutes to go:
Bagnaia looks quite unhappy with the feeling he has on his Ducati right now, as he debriefs with his crew in his garage.
We saw Acosta and KTM look quick in practice at Balaton Park last year.
Marquez moves up to second, but the gaps are massive right now. He's 0.6s behind Acosta right now.
Acosta goes fastest with a 1m39.005s.
DiGia improves to second.
Iker Lecuona gets his first laps on a Ducati MotoGP bike under his belt. He's in for Alex Marquez at Gresini this weekend.
Standings after 10 minutes:
Acosta improves to a 1m39.798s.
Pedro Acosta is now fastest with a 1m40.219s.
Everyone is out there on the medium rear tyre. Most on the soft, apart from Bagnaia and Marquez on the medium.
For reference, a 1m36.5s is the lap record around Balaton Park for MotoGP.
First laps on the board and Pecco Bagnaia leads with a 1m41.8s.
Toprak Razgatlioglu just ran into the back of Ai Ogura. There was slight contact. Luckily, both didn't crash.
The riders head onto their first laps, testing out some resurfaced parts of the track.
Pitlane is open for FP1.
Looks like FP1 will get away on time after all.
The Moto2 sessions is back underway, so it'll only be a short delay for MotoGP.