2025 Italian MotoGP: Marc Marquez claims pole century in tight Mugello qualifying
Marc Marquez takes sixth pole of 2025
Ducati’s Marc Marquez celebrated his 100th career pole position after narrowly besting Pecco Bagnaia with a new lap record in MotoGP Italian Grand Prix qualifying.
Coming into Saturday’s track action, Tech3 KTM rider Maverick Vinales had set the pace and looked like a big threat in the pole battle.
But qualifying ultimately reverted to type for the 2025 season, as Ducati locked out the front row in front of its home fans at Mugello on Saturday morning.
Marc Marquez posted a new lap record on his factory Ducati of 1m44.169s to claim a sixth pole of the season and the 100th of his career in all classes.
But it was a tight battle, as team-mate Pecco Bagnaia pushed him hard all the way to the chequered flag, and came up just 0.059s short.
Alex Marquez completed the front row on his Gresini-run GP24, with the Spaniard just 0.083s off the pole time.
Four riders dipped underneath the old lap record in Q2, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo brushing off a partial shoulder dislocation on Friday to qualify fourth.
Marc Marquez set the tone from the off in the 15-minute Q2 session, as he posted a new lap record on his opening lap of 1m44.500s.
That put him over three tenths clear of the field briefly, though Pecco Bagnaia produced a 1m44.548s on his factory Ducati with his new-found confidence in the front end to put pressure on his team-mate.
With just over four minutes to go, Marc Marquez was knocked off of top spot by factory Yamaha star Fabio Quartararo, who fired in a 1m44.411s.
But it lasted just a few seconds, as Bagnaia edged clear with a 1m44.228s.
That wouldn’t be enough to hold onto pole, though, as Marc Marquez cemented top spot with a 1m44.169s to claim a 100th grand prix pole and his 72nd in the premier class.
Alex Marquez completed the front row behind the factory Ducati pair, with Quartararo heading row two.
Maverick Vinales made a late gain to fifth on the leading KTM, albeit 0.345s off pole, while Franco Morbidelli’s early front row challenge faded to sixth on the VR46 Ducati.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was seventh on the sister VR46 Ducati, while Pedro Acosta was eighth on the factory team KTM.
Alex Rins qualified ninth on the sister factory Yamaha and escaped sanction for baulking Marc Marquez in the latter stages of Q2.
Marco Bezzecchi was 10th on the factory Aprilia ahead of Q1 graduates Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse) and Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini).
Jack Miller narrowly missed out on a place in Q2 on the Pramac Yamaha by 0.014s and will start 13th ahead of the top Honda of LCR’s Johann Zarco.
Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini couldn’t make it four KTMs in Q2 and will start 15th and 16th respectively.
The grid is completed by Miguel Oliveira (Pramac), Honda duo Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami, Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori, Ai Ogura (Trackhouse) and Somkiat Chantra (LCR).
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