FP2
The morning Free Practice 2 started with the riders going immediately on track. This session is useful for riders to warm up and test different tyre specifications before Qualifying begins.

Just 4 minutes in, the first yellow flag of the session appeared, caused by Fabio Di Giannantonio crashing at Turn 5. The early lap times were in the range of 1:45 to 1:47. After the first attempts, the top five looked as follows: Bagnaia, Acosta, Oliveira, Miller, Fernandez.

With the second measured laps completed, the riders improved their times, dipping into the 1:44s. Marc Márquez then started an incredible flying lap, taking the lead of the session. However, the second yellow flag came shortly after, as Márquez crashed at Turn 5, even though it initially looked like he would be able to continue. Soon after, we saw Marc helping the marshals get his bike out of the gravel.

Meanwhile, the tyre configurations looked as follows: most of the riders chose the soft rear tyre, while the rest went with the medium.

As the session approached the halfway mark, the times weren’t improving much. The top five were: Márquez, Morbidelli, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Nakagami.

After a quick stop in the pits, the riders returned to the track. Some of them managed to improve, including Luca Marini, who moved up to 3rd place.

With 5 minutes left, Pedro Acosta took the lead from Marc Márquez. Right behind him, Ai Ogura improved, pushing the factory duo down to 3rd and 4th place. Fabio Quartararo, who had spent most of the session at the back of the standings, managed to break into the top 9.

When the checkered flag came out, FP2 ended with the top 5 as follows: Acosta, Ogura, Marc Márquez, Bagnaia, Morbidelli.

Q1
Taking part in this qualification were: Aldeguer, Alex Márquez, Morbidelli, Martin, Bastianini, Ogura, Binder, Chantra, Rins, Miller, Nakagami, Oliveira, Viñales. The fastest two riders would advance to Q2.

With the first times set, the riders were in the 1:43 to 1:44 range, showing how close the field was. The early top two were Ogura and Morbidelli.

Alex Márquez, who was on the edge of advancing, sat in 3rd place. Home hero Ai Ogura held onto the lead, looking set to progress in front of his home crowd.

As the session neared its end with 3 minutes remaining, the riders launched their final attacks. Aldeguer improved his lap, moving into 2nd place, while Morbidelli and Alex Márquez began flying laps. However, Aldeguer then crashed in Sector 2, bringing out a yellow flag. Meanwhile, Alex Márquez completed his lap and briefly took the lead, but almost immediately Ogura and Morbidelli pushed him down to 3rd place.

Alex responded by improving again, moving up to 2nd place. In the closing seconds, Brad Binder crashed in Sector 4, bringing out another yellow flag. Moments later, Alex Rins also crashed, causing a second yellow flag. The late yellow flags helped Alex Márquez hold onto 2nd place, as others were unable to improve their times.

The riders advancing to Q2 were Morbidelli and Alex Márquez.

Q2
The riders in this part of qualifying were: Bezzecchi, Acosta, Marc Márquez, Mir, Di Giannantonio, Marini, Bagnaia, Quartararo, Fernandez, Zarco, Morbidelli, Alex Márquez.

After the first completed flying laps, the times were in the 1:43 to 1:44 range. Pedro Acosta was the only rider yet to set a time, as he appeared to be experiencing some technical issues on his out lap.

From the very start, the provisional pole position kept changing hands. Bagnaia then took over at the top, pushing his teammate Marc down to 2nd. Improving further was Fabio Quartararo, who climbed from 7th to 3rd.

After a quick stop in the pits, the riders went back out. Alex Márquez improved to 4th place, with over 3 minutes still remaining. Joan Mir then finished a strong lap, taking provisional pole from Marc Márquez. At that point, 3rd was Franco Morbidelli, with Bagnaia in 4th. Alex, who had been pushed down to 8th, improved again to 4th. Shortly after, Quartararo set a solid lap and jumped to 3rd place.

The times remained in the 1:43s. Then, with just seconds left, Francesco Bagnaia produced a brilliant lap, taking provisional pole and finishing as the fastest rider in Japan with a 1:42.911.

The top five finished as follows: Bagnaia, Mir, Marc Márquez, Acosta, Quartararo.