Álex Márquez rules in the ‘Practice’ of Jerez

The Spanish rider Álex Márquez (Ducati) closed the Estrella Galicia 0.0 Grand Prix of Spain on Friday, which takes place at the Jerez-Ángel Nieto Circuit, with the best time of the ‘Practice’ of the MotoGP category.

The youngest of the Márquez brothers sent a good message in order to defend his victory last year on the Cadiz track, the first of his career, on a day with Ducati dominating and where Marc Márquez, current world champion, was close, but behind the leader, the Italian Marco Bezzechi (Aprilia), with Jorge Martín (Aprilia) suffering somewhat and with Pedro Acosta (KTM) having to go through the toll of ‘Q1’ and far from the better.

The first contact with the first race in Europe of the World Championship predicts a nice battle for the weekend. The Borgo Panigale brand dominated both in the morning, with its until now best driver, the Italian Fabio di Giannantonio, and in the one that concluded the activity, with the 2025 world runner-up leading with authority.

Álex Márquez managed to find his best turn in the final stretch of the ‘Practice’ and left to analyze Friday’s data as the only one capable of breaking below the 1:36 barrier. With a time of 1:35.704, very close to the best lap on the Andalusian circuit, the 1:35.610 last year by Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), no one could come close to him.

The Cervera driver showed that he is coming in strong and has already opened a first gap with the rest of his rivals, with the second best time of the day, Fabio di Giannantonio, already more than three tenths away, and the third, the leader Marco Bezzecchi, half a second away.

For his part, his brother Marc threw suspense to sneak into the top ten times and avoid going through ‘Q1’ on Saturday, managing to be the fourth fastest on Friday when there was barely a minute left in the session, remaining just 17 thousandths behind Bezzecchi.

Furthermore, Jorge Martín (Aprilia) had some more problems, with a couple of falls included without physical consequences, but he ended up entering the ‘Top 10’ with the ninth best time and almost six tenths behind Álex Márquez. Pedro Acosta was not that lucky, as he could only set the fifteenth best time and will have to go through ‘Q1’.

On the other hand, in the Moto3 category, the fastest in the ‘Practice’ was the Spanish Máximo Quiles (CFMOTO), with a time of 1:44.078, only 41 thousandths faster than his compatriot David Muñoz (KTM), while in Moto2, the Australian Senna Agius (Kalex) led, with a best lap of 1:38.973, 79 thousandths better than the Spanish Alonso López (Kalex) and new track record.