1134 days later, Yamaha “could not expect” Fabio Quartararo’s “impossible” Jerez MotoGP pole

Yamaha boss Massimo Meregalli says the brand “could not expect” Fabio Quartararo’s “impossible” pole lap on Saturday at the 2025 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix.

On a 100% pole streak in 2025, the hot favourite coming into Saturday morning’s qualifying at Jerez was world championship leader Marc Marquez.

The Ducati rider set a new lap record on his first flying lap in Q2, which briefly put him almost a second clear of the field, before Fabio Quartararo cut that advantage to just over 0.4s.

As the session neared its conclusion, Marquez was still on pole but Quartararo has got to within 0.042s of the Ducati rider’s time and dug deep on his final effort to produce a 1m35.610s to snatch top spot by just 0.033s.

It marked Quartararo and Yamaha’s first pole since the 2022 Indonesian GP, 1134 days ago, and snapped Marquez’s 100% qualifying record in 2025.

Commenting on the lap immediately after the chequered flag, Yamaha boss Meregalli said:“Unbelievable. Honestly we could not expect what he did.

“Yesterday we started thinking we could do a good race. Impossible to think about the pole position.

“Now, I need to get back that taste because it was a long time ago.

“But I’m really happy for everybody, because believe me we really put in a lot of effort the last few years.

“And this is the best way to repay this job. Let’s see what the race will bring, but at least when you start from there the race is different.”

Quartararo was fast all of Friday at Jerez on single-lap times as well as race pace, but admitted afterwards that he was confused as to why his Yamaha was so strong on a low-grip surface.

He branded his pole a “special emotion” for the team, though concedes even heading the field will still make his grand prix “a bit difficult” on the M1.

“It’s a really special feeling, special emotion for everybody,” Quartararo said in parc ferme.

“We know that the points are in the sprints and the race.

“But, you know, already to feel that close atmosphere to all these guys back is something amazing.

“Hopefully we can make a great fight in the sprint. In the race we know it’s a little bit difficult, but super happy to be here. We are working hard and the work will pay off.”

Quartararo’s 20th career pole comes at a track that has been kind to him over the years, with it the scene of his first Moto3 qualifying success in 2015, as well as his first in MotoGP in 2019 and his maiden victory in the premier class in 2020.

For Yamaha managing director Paolo Pavesio, Quartararo’s pole lap shows “things are coming together” for the M1.

“It’s not points yet, but those moments are important and we are building it two races in a row on the front row,” he said.

“It’s good, it’s fantastic for Fabio, but it’s also fantastic for all the people who are working on the project. We are catching up.

“[The lap] was pretty good, eh? No, it’s fantastic because it was standard conditions, everybody had the same opportunity.

“Fabio is a champion, you need a good bike to perform like this, so we are happy because things are coming together.”