Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team begin the 2026 season with a second place in Thai Practice. Francesco Bagnaia fifteenth

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MotoGP | 27 February 2026

Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team begin the 2026 season with a second place in Thai Practice. Francesco Bagnaia fifteenth

• Fabio Di Giannantonio is third with the Ducati of the VR46 Racing Team

The Ducati Lenovo Team tackled the opening day of action of the 2026 MotoGP season at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand. Reigning World Champion Marc Márquez finished the Practice session in second place, while Francesco Bagnaia was fifteenth at the chequered flag.

Sixth in Free Practice, Márquez made his way up to fourth place with twenty minutes left in the afternoon session, before improving by more than half a second in the final time attack. Bagnaia, following the encouraging seventh-place finish in the morning, was unable to improve his lap time in Practice and will therefore take part in the Q1 session.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume proceedings tomorrow at 10:10 local time (GMT +7) for Free Practice 2, which will be followed by Q1 and Q2 at 10:50 and 11:15, respectively. The first Sprint of the season will be contested over a 13-lap distance from 9:00.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“This opening day wasn't too bad and we gave it our all. It's true that I struggled a little in Free Practice and wasn't riding at my best, but the feeling improved in the afternoon. It's still not easy to get up to speed from the get-go, but the adrenaline surely helped. I hope tomorrow we'll be able to make a step forward in terms of consistency. It surely won't be an easy Saturday: we're all very close – Bezzecchi aside, as he's on a different level at the moment – but we know we can do well.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 15th
“I felt quite good in the morning. We had some adjustments to try in the afternoon but, with the threat of rain and the wind, we chose to go for the time attack earlier than usual. Unfortunately, though, I wasn't in the best situation set-up wise. It was my mistake, as I wasn't able to make the most of the situation. We'll give our best tomorrow and try to make it into Q2.”