MotoGP live ticker Motegi: Bagnaia with first Friday best time ahead of Martin
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Marc Marquez isn't the only one who can crown himself the 2025 World Champion this weekend. The following titles could also be awarded:
MotoGP Team World Champions: The Ducati factory team leads the team standings by 278 points over Gresini-Ducati. A lead of 330 points or more after the Japanese Grand Prix could see them celebrate their fifth team title.
Top satellite riders: Alex Marquez leads Franco Morbidelli by 150 points in the independent riders' standings. With a lead of more than 185 points after the race, he could claim the crown of the best independent riders.
Moto2 Constructors' World Champion: Kalex leads the Moto2 Constructors' Championship by 143 points over Boscoscuro. With a final lead of 125 points or more, the German manufacturer could win the title for the 13th time.
Bastianini, Morbidelli, and Miller crashed late, all independently of each other. Bagnaia moved past Marc Marquez again in the standings and set the fastest time with a 1:44.857 minutes, albeit on used tires. Martin, with fresh rubber, managed to finish second, while Marquez finished third.
Di Giannantonio and Marini round out the top 5. Behind them are Morbidelli, Acosta, Miller, Chantra, and Oliveira. The top 10 are separated by just half a second.
For Bezzecchi, the session is over after his two crashes. Although both bikes are back in the pits, neither is ready to ride.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez has taken the lead in the standings. With a lap of 1:44.959, he is only eight thousandths of a second faster than Bagnaia. For reference, the fastest race lap at Motegi is 1:44.461, and the record is 1:43.018.
Morbidelli remains in third place ahead of Acosta and Chantra, who moves up to fifth place with fresh tires - a sign of life for the long-injured rookie.
Bezzecchi had just set off on his second bike when he was back on the ground. After Turn 11, he was hit by a crash this time in Turn 5, again in a hard braking zone, and his front wheel was smashed. The good news: He's not injured.
Bagnaia sets the early pace with a best time of 1:44.967 minutes. The Ducati rider recently made progress at the Misano test. Will he be able to turn things around here? That remains to be seen. His closest rivals are currently Morbidelli, Marc Marquez, the crashed Bezzecchi, and Mir in the top five.
Fernandez's session begins with a crash. Shortly afterward, Bezzecchi also goes down at high speed. Both riders appear to be okay, though.
The MotoGP field is on the move. Although the sun has faded somewhat, it's still scorching hot with 29 degrees Celsius in the air and 39 degrees Celsius on the track.
Honda has made some updates: Nakagami is riding with a completely new seat unit including a mass damper. Zarco has been updated to the new Honda chassis, which the factory riders also use. And Yamaha is using a revised exhaust.
Takaaki Nakagami returns to MotoGP as a wildcard rider for Honda at the Japanese Grand Prix. The 33-year-old test rider tore a cruciate ligament in his right knee during the sprint race in Brno and has been sidelined since July. Now Honda has officially confirmed his home comeback on the RC213V. For Nakagami, this will be his fourth race of the 2025 season, following races in France, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
Towards the end, the pace picks up considerably once again. Several drivers break the previous track record. Dixon ultimately takes the win with a time of 1:49.067 minutes. He leads by 0.175 seconds ahead of Arbolino, with Gonzalez, Alonso, and Roberts following behind.
Guevara, van den Goorbergh, Sasaki, Vietti, and Munoz complete the top 10. Holgado ends the session with a crash at Turn 10, finishing 24th.
With just over ten minutes left on the clock, local hero Sasaki takes the lead with a time of 1:49.728. He's not far off the track record of 1:49.711.
Arbolino, who underwent arm pump surgery before the Asian tour, leads the session at the halfway point with a time of 1:49.936 minutes, ahead of teammate Guevara and Dixon. World Championship leader Gonzalez is fourth. Salac went off course at the fast Turn 7 but is uninjured. Baltus also went off course again, this time at Turn 10.
In the early stages, Baltus misjudges Turn 1 and plows through the gravel trap, but manages to avoid a crash. Meanwhile, Escrig encounters a technical problem and is forced to park his Forward machine for the time being.
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