MILAN: Marc Marquez looked set to continue his march towards a seventh MotoGP world title after topping the times in Frid­ay’s practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix.

Ducati’s Marquez cloc­ked a fastest time of one minute and 30.480 seconds at Misano Adriatico, 0.147sec ahead of Marco Bezzecchi with Franco Morbidelli, who was fastest in Friday’s morning’s free practice, 0.193sec back in third.

Another rapid performance bodes well for Marquez qualifying and the sprint race on Saturday when he will look to further increase his whopping 182-point championship lead.

Barring disaster at Misano, the Spaniard will have a chance to win the title at the Japan MotoGP in a fortnight, moving level on seven championship triumphs with his great rival Valentino Rossi.

The 32-year-old has collected a total of 487 points by winning 10 of this season’s 15 GPs and 14 sprint races.

His closest rival at the top of the championship is his brother Alex Marquez who was fifth fastest on Friday, 0.272sec seconds off the pace and just behind two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Italian Bagnaia, third in the championship, has had a poor season by his lofty standards but looked far more at ease on his home track than he has for most of the year under the shadow of his team-mate Marc.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2025