Home favourite and Honda wildcard Taka Nakagami is already ruled out of the Japanese Grand Prix after breaking his collarbone in an early crash in first practice, which was topped by Marc Marquez.
Nakagami had moved across to Honda's extra third works bike for his home race for an already-planned wildcard entry after impressing as the unwell Joan Mir's stand-in on the second regular factory bike in Austria a fortnight ago.
But Nakagami was violently flicked off his bike on his out-lap on Friday morning at a cold and slightly damp Motegi, landing heavily and immediately looking in pain.
Nooo 😱@takanakagami30 gets up after this nasty crash but he's holding his arm 💥#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/R3U1YYrOgF
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 2, 2026
He was diagnosed with a fractured left collarbone before the session was even finished, and has been ruled out of the rest of the weekend.
With Mir also confirmed as missing next weekend's Indonesian GP, Nakagami had been expected to move back onto his bike for that event. Fellow Honda test rider Aleix Espargaro is now thought likely to take that slot, having recovered from the injuries he suffered in a test crash in April.
Former LCR Honda rider turned Honda World Superbike racer Somkiat Chantra has been recalled to MotoGP this weekend to ride Mir's bike given Nakagami's wildcard commitment.
Keen to get back up to speed in MotoGP, Chantra had the track to himself for long spells as the regulars hung back from taking to the treacherous and recently resurfaced circuit before temperatures rose. He ended up 14th.
The main contenders eventually came out for more concerted running near the end, with Marquez putting his factory Ducati on top by 0.099 seconds over championship leader Jorge Martin's Aprilia.
Maverick Vinales was 18th on his return to the MotoGP field with Tech3 KTM, 1.4s off the pace.
Results
1 Marc Marquez (Ducati) 1m44.073s
2 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +0.099s
3 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.133s
4 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +0.261s
5 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +0.339s
6 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +0.431s
7 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.589s
8 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.613s
9 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.683s
10 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.711s
11 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.792s
12 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1.002s
13 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +1.009s
14 Somkiat Chantra (Honda) +1.146s
15 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +1.282s
16 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +1.287s
17 Brad Binder (KTM) +1.347s
18 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +1.442s
19 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +1.468s
20 Luca Marini (Honda) +1.502s
21 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +1.800s
22 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +1.902s
23 Taka Nakagami (Honda) no time
from The Race https://ift.tt/1ez7Ci0
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