Aprilia show at Buriram: Sensational Bezzecchi, Marquez in tow, Bagnaia off the pace

Marco Bezzecchi on fire, record smashed with his Aprilia, and Marc Marquez right behind in a session threatened by rain. Report and standings.

Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia are already taking off with the new absolute MotoGP record at Buriram! Four tenths ahead of Marc Marquez, who climbed to second at the last moment, while Pecco Bagnaia is sadly missing in action... Top 10 featuring two KTMs, three Aprilias and three Ducatis in total, plus two Hondas. Big-name exclusions and sparks in the final minutes at Gresini, with Michele Pirro hindering Alex Marquez: the tester/stand-in is under investigation. Surprises abound in this second Friday session at Buriram—here’s how it went.

Let’s pick up from FP1, with Marco Bezzecchi dominant, Ducati warming up, Acosta with KTM in the top 10, while it’s pitch black for Yamaha... Now it’s time for the most important session of this GP Friday, the Practice, which decides the top 10 going directly to Q2, and it kicks off with a very light drizzle. Remember, this is Gunther Steiner’s first event as the new owner of Tech3 Racing. Big focus first on the Moto3 guys, then on the MotoGP riders, with Jorge Lorenzo next to him in the box to study Maverick Vinales’ pace. We start again with Aprilia setting the benchmark on top, although about ten minutes later Di Giannantonio shows up (taking advantage of Marc Marquez’s slipstream), just one thousandth ahead of the Aprilia rider.

This is a new aerodynamic feature spotted on Bezzecchi’s RS-GP; the “hedgehog” seen in testing instead appeared only on the tail of the Trackhouse Aprilias. The session seems to proceed calmly, but the sky is getting darker and darker... With half an hour to go, the charge for the top 10 begins—better be quick not to miss out. As with Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, both long outside the safe zone before a late climb. Rather, only #93 climbs back up; the Italian, however, is incredibly far off... Di Giannantonio instead, this time alone, keeps pounding away and consolidates first place on the timesheets, closely followed by the factory Aprilia duo and Acosta’s KTM, before encountering the Marquez brothers. But it’s not over: Bezzecchi won’t have it and shatters the MotoGP record—he’s the man to beat! Marc Marquez finishes 2nd, Di Giannantonio 3rd ahead of Acosta’s top KTM. Noted a late crash for Ai Ogura, but the Trackhouse Aprilia rider keeps his Q2.