Overview

• Francesco Bagnaia secured pole for the Japanese GP with a 1:42.911 new lap record, edging Honda’s Joan Mir, with Marc Marquez third to complete the front row.
• Alex Marquez will start eighth after advancing from Q1, keeping his faint title hopes alive as he remains the only rider mathematically in contention.
• Friday at Motegi swung sharply as Marco Bezzecchi rebounded from two FP1 crashes to top the main Practice session, with multiple riders falling but uninjured.
• At Aragon, Toprak Razgatlioglu set the fastest time of the day with a 1:48.385 in FP1, as Nicolo Bulega led FP2 but remained four tenths off Razgatlioglu’s benchmark.
• Razgatlioglu enters the Aragon races on a 12-win streak and can equal his personal best of 13, while Honda HRC fields Tommy Bridewell as a replacement for Iker Lecuona.