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Marc Marquez ends 245-day pole drought in crash-strewn Jerez MotoGP qualifying
Marc Marquez secured his first pole of 2026 in a damp qualifying at Jerez
Ducati’s Marc Marquez grabbed a first pole of the 2026 MotoGP season in a damp qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, as Friday pacesetter Alex Marquez crashed.
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez didn’t get his Spanish Grand Prix weekend off to the best of starts on Friday, with the Spaniard cautioning that he was not in a position to fight for a podium.
But the damp conditions on Saturday morning at Jerez opened the door for Marquez to mount a pole challenge.
He secured a 75th MotoGP pole and his first since Hungary last year by 0.140s over LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, while Fabio Di Giannantonio on the VR46 Ducati completed the front row.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was fourth on the leading Aprilia, while Alex Marquez recovered to fifth after a crash.
The 15-minute Q2 pole shootout at Jerez was hit with a brief delay, after a technical issue for Franco Morbidelli at the end of Q1 required parts of the circuit to be checked over.
Pedro Acosta set the early pace in Q2 with a 1m49.434s on the KTM, having followed Zarco through Q1.
Marc Marquez then took over with a 1m49.385s, before improving to a 1m48.862s at the end of his first run.
Zarco soon mounted a challenge on Marquez’s provisional pole and produced a 1m48.625s, which he bettered in the closing stages to a 1m48.227s.
Marquez’s final lap saw him retake pole with a 1m48.087s, though Zarco once again threatened him across his final tour.
But the LCR Honda rider made a small mistake the last corner, resigning him to second, while Di Giannantonio was a further 0.870s behind in third.
Bezzecchi missed the front row by just 0.018s in fourth, with Alex Marquez fifth ahead of Acosta.
Jorge Martin crashed at Turn 1 in the latter stages of Q2 and could do no more than seventh, which will convert to 10th on Sunday due to a three-place grid penalty.
Enea Bastianini was eighth on the Tech3 KTM, with Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez ninth ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, who was 2.9s off of his Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez.
Ai Ogura struggled in the conditions to 11th on the sister Trackhouse Aprilia, while Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) was 12th after a crash.
Brad Binder was 13th for KTM, while neither factory team Honda made it into Q2. Augusto Fernandez was the leading Yamaha runner in 16th.
Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Luca Marini and Diogo Moreira all crashed in Q1.
Full 2026 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix qualifying results
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Marc Marquez secured his first pole of 2026 in a damp qualifying at Jerez
Ducati’s Marc Marquez grabbed a first pole of the 2026 MotoGP season in a damp qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, as Friday pacesetter Alex Marquez crashed.
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez didn’t get his Spanish Grand Prix weekend off to the best of starts on Friday, with the Spaniard cautioning that he was not in a position to fight for a podium.
But the damp conditions on Saturday morning at Jerez opened the door for Marquez to mount a pole challenge.
He secured a 75th MotoGP pole and his first since Hungary last year by 0.140s over LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, while Fabio Di Giannantonio on the VR46 Ducati completed the front row.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was fourth on the leading Aprilia, while Alex Marquez recovered to fifth after a crash.
The 15-minute Q2 pole shootout at Jerez was hit with a brief delay, after a technical issue for Franco Morbidelli at the end of Q1 required parts of the circuit to be checked over.
Pedro Acosta set the early pace in Q2 with a 1m49.434s on the KTM, having followed Zarco through Q1.
Marc Marquez then took over with a 1m49.385s, before improving to a 1m48.862s at the end of his first run.
Zarco soon mounted a challenge on Marquez’s provisional pole and produced a 1m48.625s, which he bettered in the closing stages to a 1m48.227s.
Marquez’s final lap saw him retake pole with a 1m48.087s, though Zarco once again threatened him across his final tour.
But the LCR Honda rider made a small mistake the last corner, resigning him to second, while Di Giannantonio was a further 0.870s behind in third.
Bezzecchi missed the front row by just 0.018s in fourth, with Alex Marquez fifth ahead of Acosta.
Jorge Martin crashed at Turn 1 in the latter stages of Q2 and could do no more than seventh, which will convert to 10th on Sunday due to a three-place grid penalty.
Enea Bastianini was eighth on the Tech3 KTM, with Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez ninth ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, who was 2.9s off of his Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez.
Ai Ogura struggled in the conditions to 11th on the sister Trackhouse Aprilia, while Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) was 12th after a crash.
Brad Binder was 13th for KTM, while neither factory team Honda made it into Q2. Augusto Fernandez was the leading Yamaha runner in 16th.
Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Luca Marini and Diogo Moreira all crashed in Q1.
Full 2026 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix qualifying results
Ducati’s Marc Marquez grabbed a first pole of the 2026 MotoGP season in a damp qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, as Friday pacesetter Alex Marquez crashed.
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez didn’t get his Spanish Grand Prix weekend off to the best of starts on Friday, with the Spaniard cautioning that he was not in a position to fight for a podium.
But the damp conditions on Saturday morning at Jerez opened the door for Marquez to mount a pole challenge.
He secured a 75th MotoGP pole and his first since Hungary last year by 0.140s over LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, while Fabio Di Giannantonio on the VR46 Ducati completed the front row.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was fourth on the leading Aprilia, while Alex Marquez recovered to fifth after a crash.
The 15-minute Q2 pole shootout at Jerez was hit with a brief delay, after a technical issue for Franco Morbidelli at the end of Q1 required parts of the circuit to be checked over.
Pedro Acosta set the early pace in Q2 with a 1m49.434s on the KTM, having followed Zarco through Q1.
Marc Marquez then took over with a 1m49.385s, before improving to a 1m48.862s at the end of his first run.
Zarco soon mounted a challenge on Marquez’s provisional pole and produced a 1m48.625s, which he bettered in the closing stages to a 1m48.227s.
Marquez’s final lap saw him retake pole with a 1m48.087s, though Zarco once again threatened him across his final tour.
But the LCR Honda rider made a small mistake the last corner, resigning him to second, while Di Giannantonio was a further 0.870s behind in third.
Bezzecchi missed the front row by just 0.018s in fourth, with Alex Marquez fifth ahead of Acosta.
Jorge Martin crashed at Turn 1 in the latter stages of Q2 and could do no more than seventh, which will convert to 10th on Sunday due to a three-place grid penalty.
Enea Bastianini was eighth on the Tech3 KTM, with Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez ninth ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, who was 2.9s off of his Ducati team-mate Marc Marquez.
Ai Ogura struggled in the conditions to 11th on the sister Trackhouse Aprilia, while Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini) was 12th after a crash.
Brad Binder was 13th for KTM, while neither factory team Honda made it into Q2. Augusto Fernandez was the leading Yamaha runner in 16th.
Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Luca Marini and Diogo Moreira all crashed in Q1.
Full 2026 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix qualifying results
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