The Japan Times - Marquez fires warning in first practice at MotoGP season opener

The Spanish great, who has joined double world champion Francesco Bagnaia at the Ducati factory team, clocked a leading time of one minute, 29.423 seconds in fierce temperatures.

Bagnaia was a lowly 10th on the timesheets, 0.718secs off Marquez's pace.

Bagnaia's fellow Italian Franco Morbidelli, also on a Ducati, was second-fastest at 0.158sec behind and third was Frenchman Fabio Quartararo on his Yamaha.

The first points of the campaign are up for grabs in a 13-lap sprint race on Saturday, before the main event at Buriram on Sunday.

Marquez and Bagnaia have been hailed as a dream team but some observers have cautioned that the high-octane mix of two fast high-profile racers could prove too combustible over the 22-race season.

The 32-year-old Marquez enjoyed a strong pre-season on his new bike, having joined Ducati from Honda, and is strongly fancied to win a first world crown since 2019.

The start of the new MotoGP season has been overshadowed by the absence of world champion Jorge Martin.

The Spaniard suffered fractures to his right hand and left foot in a horror crash during pre-season testing in Malaysia.

Then his Aprilia team said this week that Martin suffered another mishap in training and had to have more surgery.

Aprilia now say he will miss both Buriram and the next race, in Argentina in mid-March.

T.Ikeda--JT