A Marquez 1-2, with Alex barely beating his bro Marc, happens in Q1 after some crazy action with Morbidelli!

A hectic Friday wrapped up with a bunch of crazy stuff happening! Pecco was sweating bullets trying to get into Q1, Honda totally killed it with two spots, and can you believe it? Ogura was the top newbie, landing at P9. But wait, there’s more! All five bike makers made a clean sweep straight into Q2. What a wild ride, right?

Day 1 of the smokin’ hot MotoGP™ action at the Chang International Circuit has wrapped up, and boy, did it give us a lot to talk about! The 2025 season kicked off at the 25th spot to ever host a season opener, turning all that nervous energy into some serious racing drama. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini) and big bro Marc Marquez (Ducati) really brought it today, with Alex taking the lead and easing into Q2.

Now let’s chat about the Practice sessions. The moment we were all waiting for, right? It’s like the opening act of a rock concert, but with motorcycles! So, it’s no surprise that the legendary Marc Marquez and the new kid on the block, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM), were the ones setting the pace early on. They were swapping first place like it was nobody’s business. But hold up, because Acosta wasn’t the only one keeping an eye on Marquez. The Hondas were back with a bang, especially Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), who jumped to the top spot with just 20 minutes to go. Luca Marini and Joan Mir, the Honda HRC Castrol guys, were also tearing it up, hanging out in third and fifth place. Can you believe it? The top 15 were all within a second of each other! This is what we live for, folks. The stage is set for an epic battle, and it’s just the first day!

With all the racers gunning for a sweet spot in the top ten to advance straight to Q2, the action cooled down a bit in the last 15 minutes of the session. But then, little Acosta hopped back up to the top before Marquez, like he’s been doing all along, muscled his way back to the number one spot. Meanwhile, Alex Marquez, the other half of the Marquez sibling duo, trailed right behind at P2 with about ten minutes to spare. Fabio Di Giannantonio had a little moment where he zipped ahead of Bagnaia, bumping the Italian out of the top ten for a hot second, but Bagnaia wasn’t having it and retaliated, sliding into P9 to stay in the mix.

PECCO’S PROBLEMS: A Not-So-Chill Friday in Thailand

As the time wound down and we hit the last five minutes, everyone on the track was giving it their all to snag a spot in Q2 for the next day. But poor Pecco had some bad luck. First, some yellow flags popped up and ruined his chances of setting a better lap time. Then, with only a few minutes to spare, a bunch of other guys managed to sneak ahead, leaving him out of the top ten. He was really hoping to get back in there.

But the universe wasn’t done messing with him yet. On his final shot at a fast lap, he ran into Franco Morbidelli from the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team, who was taking his sweet time on the racing line coming out of Turn 5. That totally threw him off and screwed up his lap. The two had a bit of a dramatic moment on the track, with some serious hand waving and probably some not-so-pleasant words exchanged.

In the end, the FIM MotoGP Stewards decided that Morbidelli was being a bit of a party pooper, and slapped him with a 3-place grid penalty for the Sunday race. But that didn’t exactly make Pecco’s day any better. He’s stuck in 13th place for Practice, which means he’ll be hanging out in Q1 for the first time since the Valencia race back in 2023. Talk about a Friday you’d rather forget, huh?

DIRECTLY INTO Q2: A New Marquez Steals the Show

So, as the Italian bros hogged the spotlight, there was a bunch of other cool stuff happening too. Alex Marquez totally outdid his big bro, Marc, by snagging the number one spot, and they both scored a ticket to Q2. And get this, there’s this crazy fast kid named Acosta who’s the only KTM rider to make it straight to Q2, and he’s smoking the competition! Bezzecchi was also on fire, despite taking a tumble, and Morbidelli was right up there with them.

Honda is basically crushing it today. For the first time since some race in India in 2023, they’ve got two riders—Mir and Zarco—zipping straight to Q2 from Practice. Mir’s chilling in P6, and Zarco’s not too far behind in P9. Then there’s Quartararo from the Yamaha crew, who managed to grab the eighth spot, but oh no, his bike had some drama and ended up on the service road after the race finished.

But wait, there’s more! Ai Ogura is killing it for the rookies. This dude is the fastest newbie out there, making him the third Aprilia rider in Q2, sitting pretty in P9. And guess what? This is the first time since the 2023 Indonesian GP that all five bike brands have riders heading to Q2 right after Practice. It’s like a full house of awesomeness!

BIG NAMES OUT: Viñales, Binder, and Miller Join Bagnaia in Q1

Looks like Q1’s gonna be a real nail-biter this time around, folks! With Pecco throwing his hat into the ring, there’s a bunch of riders eager to show they’ve got what it takes to beat him. Maverick Viñales from Red Bull KTM Tech 3 seems to have found his groove, but Brad Binder over at Red Bull KTM Factory had a bit of a rough go of it. Despite that, both of them managed to squeeze into Q2, along with Jack Miller from Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP™, who had a bit of a spill at Turn 12 earlier on.

Now, for the surprise of the day, Di Giannantonio’s back in action after some time off due to an injury and he’s looking pretty solid with a P15. Luca Marini from HRC Honda Castrol didn’t quite make it into the top ten mix during the final minutes, which is a bummer. As for the Q1 lineup, we’ve got some familiar faces like Alex Rins on the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™, Miguel Oliveira from Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP™, Enea Bastianini also with Red Bull KTM Tech 3, and the young gun Fermin Aldeguer on the BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP™. And let’s not forget the local hero, Somkiat Chantra, representing IDEMITSU LCR Honda, and Lorenzo Savadori from Aprilia Racing. It’s gonna be a wild ride for sure!

With 18 bikers separated by just a smidgen of a second, Sprint Saturday is coming up: tune in for some MotoGP excitement from 10 AM local time (which is UTC +7)! You don’t wanna miss this, folks!