Marc Marquez 4th: “Goal is to stay with the front group”

Marc Marquez’s prediction of closer opposition in Catalunya came to fruition on Friday, as the championship leader finished fourth during practice in Barcelona.

The Spaniard, seeking to extend a 14-race win streak in his latest home round, finished behind the KTMs of Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta, plus the GP24 Ducati of brother Alex (Gresini).

It’s race pace where Marc has often been in a class of his own this season. However, while the factory Ducati star’s used-tyre form was indeed fast, it was not the fastest.

Alex was quicker after laps 11-15 on medium tyres front and rear, dipping into the 1m 39s bracket while Marc remained in the low 1m 40s.

Marc ended his medium tyre work after a total of 15 laps. Alex produced a ‘40.140s on a 16th lap before also switching to fresh soft tyres for the time attacks.

Compared with those who chose long runs with the soft rear, Marc's respective lap times were slower than Acosta and Enea Bastianini, on laps 10-12.

The Marquez brothers are expected to test the soft in final practice, with both rear compounds viable for Saturday’s 12-lap Sprint.

“At tracks like this one, which is not among my favourites, the goal is to stay with the front group,” Marc Marquez said.

“The race here will be very long, but today’s time attack went well and that’s important.

“I need to improve riding-style-wise in the fast right-handers - where I’ve always struggled a bit - as the bike itself is already good as it is.

“We used the base set-up today, while tomorrow the team will help me with some minor adjustments to find more stability in the faster sections and help me be more consistent.”

Marc will start the Sprint with a 175-point title lead over Alex. He hasn't been defeated since Alex's victory in the Silverstone Sprint in May.

The eight-time world champion needs to increase his title advantage to at least 185 points in Barcelona to have a mathematical chance of winning the 2025 crown next weekend at Misano.

Team-mate Francesco Bagnaia was just 21st on Friday as his corner entry woes on the GP25 continued, quashing hopes of a breakthrough at Balaton Park.