Brno MotoGP LIVE: Friday Practice reaction after Ai Ogura ends fastest

Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the 2026 MotoGP Czech Grand Prix at Brno. Practice is due to start at 15:00 local time.

Key Moments

• Ogura ends fastest as five riders go sub-1m53s
• Marquez the first into the 1m51s, soon followed by Ogura
• Acosta goes fastest, then suffers technical issue
• Bezzecchi leads after Aprilia goes early with first time attack runs
• Marquez crashes at turn 11 as Bezzecchi leads Practice

Marco Bezzecchi arrives at the Czech MotoGP leading the championship by 20 points over Jorge Martin after both factory Aprilias crashed out of the Hungary race two weeks ago.

The cause of that double-DNF was Martin's loss of control entering the first turn. Bezzecchi said yesterday that there is no change in the atmosphere at Aprilia after the incident, while Martin offered a different opinion on the cause of the crash to Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola, who blamed a Martin error for the crash immediately after the race at Balaton.

Both factory Aprilia riders struggled this morning. Martin suffered a technical issue on one of his bikes and ended up 14th, while Marco Bezzecchi ran off at the penultimate turn on his first lap and could only manage 16th in the end.

The consequence in the championship of the two Aprilias not scoring in Hungary is that Marc Marquez closed his points deficit down to 72 points compared to Bezzecchi. The reigning champion was the winner at Brno last year, beating Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta in what was a commanding performance. Hungary was Marquez's first win of the season, although the long corners of Brno should theoretically be more suited to the Aprilia.

In comparison to the two Aprilias, Marquez was in emphatic form this morning, finishing 0.2 seconds clear of the field despite a late crash, having been the only rider to lap in the 1m53s for most of the session.

Marc Marquez is not the only Marquez brother on the grid this weekend as Alex Marquez makes his return after his Catalunya crash. The Gresini rider was passed fit yesterday but will have to undergo another medical assessment after FP1 to verify his capacity to continue the weekend. Speaking yesterday, Marquez explained the importance of returning this weekend after a month without racing. This morning, Marquez finished 18th, 1.2 seconds off the pace.

Johann Zarco is still not yet ready to come back from his knee injury from Catalunya and will be replaced again by Cal Crutchlow this weekend, the British rider entering his third round of the season. Crutchlow is also due to replace Zarco at the Dutch TT next weekend.

On Monday there is a post-race test with the 850cc bikes and Pirelli tyres and it has already caused some controversy, mostly because not all riders are eligible to take part because some are moving brands next year. Fabio Di Giannantonio described this as "not fair" yesterday, while Francesco Bagnaia's idea for riders changing teams next year should be able to ride 1,000cc machines in the test was thwarted.