Solid Friday for Aprilia Racing at Motegi

Oct 3, 2026 Michael Le Pard News
BOTH FACTORY RIDERS STRAIGHT THROUGH TO Q2: MARCO BEZZECCHI FOURTH, JORGE MARTÍN EIGHTH
Aprilia Racing ended the opening day of practice at Mobility Resort Motegi with a positive result.

Marco Bezzecchi finished FP1 in third place. In the afternoon, the Italian rider was fourth in Practice with a time of 1:43.029, securing direct entry to Q2.

Jorge Martín also had a solid Friday, setting the second-fastest time in FP1. The Spanish rider then finished the session in eighth place, which puts him straight through to Q2 as well.
It was a good first day. We were fairly quick in both the morning and the afternoon, in terms of race pace as well as the time attack. They’ve done a really good job of resurfacing the track. There’s good grip even though there’s still very little rubber down, so it will definitely improve as we do more laps. The bike handles well. We obviously still need to improve a little, but overall it’s a good start to the weekend.
We went very well in the morning, then I struggled a little with the time attack in the afternoon, but overall I think we had a good Friday. I feel very comfortable on the bike with the medium tyre, but I need to work out how to go a little faster on the soft. We definitely need to take another step forward because the other riders are faster, but I don’t feel I’m that far off in terms of race pace. We’re doing a good job and need to keep it up.
It was a good result in Japan, with both our riders progressing straight through to Q2. Marco and Jorge are highly motivated, and our aim as a team is to further improve the bike so they can be competitive at a very stop-and-go circuit like Motegi. Every detail will make a difference at this stage of the championship.

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