MotoGP Brazilian GP: Johann Zarco tops rain-hit Friday…

Johann Zarco set the pace in Friday Practice for MotoGP’s Brazilian Grand Prix, while a mid-session rain shower caught out Aprilia star Marco Bezzecchi.

The delayed hour-long practice session at Goiania got off to a frantic start, as the entire field headed out of the pitlane on slick tyres amid fears of incoming rain.

Riders were forced to take early risks and crashes quickly followed, with Brad Binder, Jack Miller and home favourite Diogo Moreira all going down in sector two within the opening 10 minutes.

The first rider to break into the 1m22s barrier was 2024 champion Jorge Martin, who posted a time of 1m21.556s on the factory Aprilia.

However, he was immediately dislodged from the top spot by LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco, who went over a quarter of a second quicker with a time of 1m21.257s.

Later on, reigning world champion Marc Marquez climbed to second place on the factory Ducati, with Pramac rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu likewise putting together an impressive lap to grab third place.

Further improvements followed over the next 15 minutes, with the likes of Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and returning Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) breaking inside the top 10.

However, with around 35 minutes remaining, the rain intensified, leaving the track too wet for any meaningful improvements.

As such, Zarco remained at the top of the timesheets ahead of Marquez and Razgatlioglu, with Martin holding onto fourth to secure a direct passage into Q2.

Riders leaving the pit lane (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images)

Championship leader Pedro Acosta led KTM’s charge in fifth place ahead of Alex Marquez (Gresini), Quartararo and Aldeguer. The top 10 was rounded out by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse).

Several leading riders, however, will have to go through Q1 on Saturday, as conditions failed to improve despite the rain easing later in the session.

The biggest causality was Thailand GP winner Bezzecchi, who finished the session down in 20th place - over two seconds off Zarco’s pace. The Italian went back out on track with 12 minutes remaining in a valiant effort, but was unable to improve on his previous time.

Fellow Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez was 21st, while Tech3’s Enea Bastianini propped up the field after failing to set a lap within the 107% threshold.

Moreira ended up 15th on the timesheets following his early crash at Turn 4, while Miller (12th) and Binder (17th) were also compromised by incidents. Franco Morbidelli also stopped on track after missing a pitboard and running out of fuel.

Photos from Brazil GP - Friday

FiP

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	7	1'21.257		169.905
2	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	17	+0.125 1'21.382	0.125	169.644
3	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7	Yamaha	16	+0.308 1'21.565	0.183	169.263
4	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89	Aprilia	14	+0.309 1'21.566	0.001	169.261
5	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	15	+0.493 1'21.750	0.184	168.880
6	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	16	+0.538 1'21.795	0.045	168.787
7	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	17	+0.568 1'21.825	0.030	168.725
8	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54	Ducati	13	+0.625 1'21.882	0.057	168.608
9	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	15	+0.710 1'21.967	0.085	168.433
10	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79	Aprilia	17	+0.810 1'22.067	0.100	168.228
11	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	14	+0.831 1'22.088	0.021	168.185
12	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	14	+0.873 1'22.130	0.042	168.099
13	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	15	+0.875 1'22.132	0.002	168.095
14	M. Viñales Tech 3	12	KTM	15	+0.969 1'22.226	0.094	167.903
15	D. Moreira Team LCR	11	Honda	11	+1.098 1'22.355	0.129	167.640
16	J. Mir Honda HRC	36	Honda	18	+1.135 1'22.392	0.037	167.564
17	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	13	+1.435 1'22.692	0.300	166.956
18	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	12	+1.476 1'22.733	0.041	166.874
19	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	16	+1.633 1'22.890	0.157	166.558
20	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	20	+2.043 1'23.300	0.410	165.738
21	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	14	+2.644 1'23.901	0.601	164.551
22	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	13	+4.706 1'25.963	2.062	160.603
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