Marc Marquez reacts to 'surprise' front row rivals, insists overtaking possible

Marc Marquez took what was widely billed as the most crucial pole position of the 2025 MotoGP season during qualifying at Balaton Park on Saturday morning.

Riders have frequently warned that the new Hungarian circuit is tough to overtake on, with the straights too short for a slipstream and corners too tight for multiple lines. 

“I’m happy, the main target was the front row. We did it,” said Marquez, who is chasing a 13th consecutive victory in this afternoon’s Sprint.

“Now the next target will be the start and first corner. From that point, if we are there in the front, it will be easier.

“We need to understand also in the Sprint race how difficult it is to overtake.

“The fact that the slipstreams are not super important will make life a bit difficult for the guys behind.

“But MotoGP is MotoGP. The best riders in the world are here, so they can overtake in every corner!”

Marquez had been expected to face a strong pole challenge from Pedro Acosta, fastest in Friday’s time attack, but the KTM rider crashed at the start of qualifying and was left seventh.

Instead, Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and VR46 Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio came through Qualifying 1 to complete the front row alongside the factory Ducati rider.

“Yes, I mean, it is a surprise and at the same time not,” Marquez said of his front-row rivals.

“We cannot forget that we’re at a new circuit and every time you put a new tyre you find new limits.

“They were coming from Q1 and the fact they already did two time attacks meant they had another reference. So they were super fast.”

Bezzecchi, currently fourth in the world championship and the top non-Ducati rider, was 0.290s from pole.

“We had to work really hard from yesterday to today,” said Bezzecchi. “This morning I wasn’t really feeling great, so I stopped working on the bike and tried to adapt. That was the key.

“I didn’t expect the first row, but at the end when I was there I fought and achieved it, which is very important.”

di Giannantonio made it a pair of GP25s on the front row after what he hopes is a breakthrough on new tyres at a high-grip track.

“Yesterday I was pretty frustrated about how we started the weekend because now I think we have enough experience to understand what we need in these kind of conditions, tracks where there is a lot of grip," he said.

“So we did a massive work yesterday with the team, we united, we regrouped and stayed in the garage until night. We took some ideas. We tried it this morning and they worked. And luckily it worked also on the qualifying lap so I’m happy.”

Meanwhile, the Balaton Park braking woes continued for Marquez’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, who will line-up just 15th on the grid.

Alex Marquez, Marc’s closest title rival, starts from eleventh this afternoon, then has a three-place grid penalty for the grand prix.

Only Acosta and di Giannantonio were able to join Marquez in setting a low 1m 37s lap on a used soft rear tyre in final practice. 

Meanwhile, Gresini's Fermin Aldeguer, second to Marquez at the Red Bull Ring last Sunday, set a 1m 37.846s on a used medium rear.

Bezzecchi's best was a 1m 37.886s, but was set on a soft tyre that had done 17 laps, well beyond the 13-lap Sprint distance.

Michelin has confirmed that the soft rear is also a viable option for the 26-lap grand prix.