14:23
Marc Marquez now back on top with a 1m39.385s.
Francesco Bagnaia
2025 Argentina MotoGP: Friday practice as it happened
Recap Friday practice at the 2025 MotoGP Argentine Grand Prix
The 2025 MotoGP season continues on 14-16 March with the second round of the campaign, as the series returns to the Argentina Grand Prix.
The South American event was absent from last year's calendar due to government spending cuts in the country, but returns for 2025.
Marc Marquez comes to Termas de Rio Hondo looking to build on his dream start to 2025 after winning both races from pole at the Thai GP to take his first lead in the championship since Valencia 2019.
The factory Ducati rider last raced in Argentina in 2019, when he won by almost 10 seconds in one of the most dominant showings of his MotoGP career.
Team-mate Pecco Bagnaia hasn't enjoyed much success in Argentina over the years and needs to rebound after a difficult Thai GP weekend. Bagnaia claims he knows what went wrong, but is being tight-lipped on the details.
Gresini's Alex Marquez is expected to be a podium contender again at a track he scored his first premier class pole and was on the rostrum at in 2023. He sits second in the standings after a brace of second-place finishes in Thailand.
MotoGP will be without its world champion Jorge Martin again as he continues his recovery from injury, with the Aprilia rider revealing on Thursday that he will also be absent from the upcoming Americas GP at COTA.
Aprilia scored its first MotoGP win at Termas de Rio Hondo in 2022, while its factory rider Marco Bezzecchi tallied up his maiden premier class victory at the track in 2023.
With rookie Ai Ogura also making a hot start to 2025 in Thailand, Aprilia is expected to have a strong weekend.
Solid showings from Honda and Yamaha in Thailand will be tested at a low-grip Argentinian venue, while KTM will be hoping to close the gap to the leaders after a tough start to the campaign.
FP1 for the 2025 Argentina GP begins at 1:45pm GMT. Practice is at 6pm GMT.
14 Mar 2025
14:21
Just under 10 minutes to go in this session. Zarco still fastest.
14:21
Bezzecchi still running strong as he moves up to second, while Joan Mir confirms Honda's decent pace this morning in fifth.
Yamaha looking good also in sixth and seventh with Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo.
14:18
In a reverse of Friday in Thailand, Bagnaia looks like he has gotten in the way of Franco Morbidelli on the run into the penultimate corner.
Nothing major, but Bagnaia has bailed into pitlane as team-mate Marc Marquez heads back out.
14:15
Bagnaia makes a small improvement to 15th, but is 1.9s off the pace at present. He doesn't look hugely comfortable right now.
14:12
Zarco improves to a 1m39.397s. Again, nothing to get too excited about but it's been a long time since we've seen a Honda come out and consistently set session-best laps.
14:11
Johann Zarco hits the front again with a 1m39.794s, while Bagnaia has a bit of a front-end twitch exiting Turn 1.
14:10
For reference, the best ever lap around Rio Hondo is a 1m37.683s set in 2014 by Marc Marquez.
14:07
Marc Marquez gets under the 1m40s barrier for the first time today, setting the benchmark to 1m39.991s.
14:03
Alex Marquez now takes over top spot with a 1m40.359s.
14:02
Marco Bezzecchi goes fastest now with a 1m40.383s.
14:01
Session standings with 30 minutes to go
- Zarco
- Bezzecchi
- Vinales
- A. Marquez
- Marini
- Miller
- Quartararo
- M.Marquez
- Rins
- Acosta
14:00
Fernandez Crash
Raul Fernandez has become the first crasher of the weekend.
He ran wide at Turn 1 and dropped his Trackhouse Aprilia in the gravel. A slow-speed tip-off but he's back up and running.
13:59
Marco Bezzecchi jumps up to second on the Aprilia.
Good track this for the RS-GP, as it was the scene of its first MotoGP victory back in 2022.
13:55
Hard to read into anything right now, but this is reasonably encouraging for Honda. A lack of rear grip remains an issue, but in low grip conditions Zarco is looking pretty solid.
The agility of the RC213V should help Honda a lot this weekend.
13:54
Zarco goes a bit quicker again to a 1m40.405s, with Maverick Vinales just over a second adrift.
13:53
Zarco has improved to a 1m40.887s ahead of KTM's Brad Binder and Pramac Yamaha's Jack Miller.
13:52
Bagnaia now the latest to run wide at Turn 1. Team-mate Marc Marquez is now heading out for a look at the circuit.
13:50
Pedro Acosta has run wide at Turn 1. This is the first time he's been at Termas de Rio Hondo as a MotoGP rider.
Johann Zarco leads the way after five minutes with a 1m44.741s.
13:46
One rider not rushing out just now is championship leader Marc Marquez. He's quite happy to watch his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia explore conditions.
13:45
FP1 is go!
13:41
Just five minutes till pitlane goes green for FP1.
13:38
The 45-minute FP1 session coming up now will largely be an unrepresentative one due to track conditions.
There are some damp patches around after overnight rain, which haven't cleared yet as it's pretty chilly at Termas de Rio Hondo.
13:32
Jorge Martin out!
The big news coming into today's practice sessions is the continued absence of MotoGP champion Jorge Martin.
He confirmed on Thursday that he will also miss the upcoming Americas GP.
13:29
Practice begins
Good afternoon and welcome to live text coverage of the 2025 Argentina Grand Prix!
FP1 gets underway in 15 minutes.
