Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team seventh quickest in Balaton Park Friday Practice. Francesco Bagnaia, fourteenth, forced into Q1

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MotoGP | 5 June 2026

Marc Márquez and the Ducati Lenovo Team seventh quickest in Balaton Park Friday Practice. Francesco Bagnaia, fourteenth, forced into Q1

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

The Ducati Lenovo Team wrapped up the opening day of action at Balaton Park Circuit, host of the eighth event of the 2026 MotoGP season. Marc Márquez took seventh place in Friday's Practice session, while Francesco Bagnaia finished fourteenth.

Márquez, the quickest rider in FP1, remained in the top ten for most of the afternoon session, showing great speed with both fresh and used tyres. In the closing stages, Marc was unable to improve his lap-time after running wide. Bagnaia bounced back in the final moments, but his time attack was affected by a small mistake at turn sixteen that compromised his chances of securing direct access to Q2.

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

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 7th
“Our problem at the moment is that I'd like to push hard on every lap, but I can't. I need to do it only at certain times and this doesn't help me keep my concentration level high. This is why I went wide during the time attack, as it's not easy for me to find the right references, especially under braking. We need to be patient and try to do everything in the best possible way. Surely this is a less physically demanding track compared to Mugello and tomorrow morning we'll have a better idea of our potential for the races, especially based on the outcome of qualifying.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 14th
“We didn't manage to finish in the top ten because, during the time attack, the rear stepped out on corner entry at the final corner. I lost around four tenths, which would have been enough to secure direct access to Q2. I'm struggling a lot with rear grip and, to some degree, I'm surprised by it, especially considering the characteristics of this track. Unfortunately, this issue affects us quite a lot because we can't make the bike turn the way we'd like. It will be important to understand why it happened and try to fix it in order to be competitive here at Balaton Park.”