Bezzecchi Edges Marquez to Top Indonesian MotoGP Practice as Aprilia Dominates

Marco Bezzecchi fired an early warning shot at the Indonesian Grand Prix, topping Friday's opening MotoGP practice at Mandalika with a 1:30.132 that left the championship contenders chasing.

The factory Aprilia rider led for much of the 45-minute session, and heading into the closing stages it looked like an all-Aprilia top three — with title leader Jorge Martin and last year's front-row star Raul Fernandez sitting second and third. But reigning champion Marc Marquez had other ideas, leaping from eighth to second on his penultimate lap to split the RS-GP machines, just 0.237 seconds off the pace. Martin ended up third, 0.266 back, with the two title rivals separated by only two points in the standings.

Pedro Acosta was fourth for KTM ahead of Fernandez, while Franco Morbidelli briefly showed top-five pace on the VR46 Ducati. There was frustration for Francesco Bagnaia, who tumbled to 13th after a near-miss with Toprak Razgatlioglu through the fast Turn 12-13 complex — an incident the stewards reviewed and dismissed — and was visibly agitated on his way back to the pits. Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi had earlier told TNT Sports he was "pretty happy" with Bagnaia's early top-ten pace, but the two-time champion faded badly late on. Honda stand-in Aleix Espargaro, replacing the ailing Joan Mir, finished 22nd on his first MotoGP outing of the year.