Marco Bezzecchi continued his impressive form by setting the fastest time in Friday practice for the San Marino Grand Prix. The Aprilia rider clocked a 1m30.144s, edging out world champion Marc Marquez of Ducati by just over a tenth of a second. This marks the third consecutive weekend that Bezzecchi has led the way on Friday, having also topped practice at Silverstone and Aragon.
The battle between Aprilia and Ducati was intense from the start. Alex Marquez of Gresini and Bezzecchi traded fastest times early on. Bezzecchi was the first to dip into the 1m31s with a 1m31.333s, before Alex Marquez responded with a sub-1m31s lap. About 25 minutes in, Aprilia fitted a fresh soft tyre to Bezzecchi's bike, and he immediately set two rapid laps, including a 1m30.829s to reclaim the top spot.
In the final third of the session, lap times tumbled. Fabio di Giannantonio, Luca Marini, and Pedro Acosta all took turns at the top. In the last 10 minutes, Bezzecchi briefly led again, but Marc Marquez demoted him with a 1m30.247s. Alex Marquez then slotted into second, just 0.002s behind Bezzecchi. However, Bezzecchi had more in reserve, posting a 1m30.144s right at the chequered flag to end the day fastest.
The Marquez brothers had to settle for second and third, with Marc ahead of Alex. Meanwhile, VR46's di Giannantonio and Morbidelli were less than a tenth adrift in fourth and fifth, with team boss Valentino Rossi watching on.
Pedro Acosta recovered from a crash in FP1 to set the sixth-fastest time on the KTM, 0.344s off Bezzecchi. Luca Marini impressed on home soil, showing strong pace in FP1 and going seventh in the afternoon. Johann Zarco of LCR was eighth, followed by Pol Espargaro, who surprised with ninth as a substitute for Maverick Vinales at Tech3 KTM.
Aprilia's Jorge Martin held on to 10th despite late improvements, beating Tech3's Enea Bastianini by just 0.016s to secure a direct spot in Q2. However, Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez slipped to 12th in the closing stages. The stage is set for a fierce qualifying battle.
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