2025 Portuguese MotoGP: Marco Bezzecchi snatches pole as Alex Marquez crashes

Marco Bezzecchi bested Pedro Acosta for pole at the Portuguese MotoGP

08 Nov 2025

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Factory Racing, 2025 Portuguese MotoGP
© Gold and Goose

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi claimed a fourth pole of the 2025 MotoGP season after topping qualifying at the Portuguese Grand Prix, as Alex Marquez crashed.

Having topped both of Friday’s sessions at Portimao and claiming his lap times were coming easy, Alex Marquez was expected to be the favourite for pole on Saturday morning.

But the Gresini Ducati rider will have to go from fifth on the grid after crashing late on in Q2.

For the second time in three races, no Ducati rider made it to a front row headed by Aprilia, with Marco Bezzecchi 0.150s clear of the field with a 1m37.556s.

He heads Pedro Acosta, who scores his first front row start of the season, while Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo came from Q1 to qualify third.

Quartararo’s time in Q1 proved useful, as he was able to understand the drying conditions following a damp start to the morning in Portugal.

The Yamaha rider set the early pace in Q2 with a 1m38.518s after the opening salvo of laps, before Alex Marquez took over with a 1m38.098s.

The Gresini rider was shadowed by Bezzecchi, who sat just 0.027s adrift after his first run on the factory Aprilia.

With three minutes left in the 15-minute session, Bezzecchi produced a 1m57.556s to take provisional pole.

A minute later, Alex Marquez ruled himself out of a challenge when he fell at Turn 3.

Despite some strong final laps for his rivals, nobody could deny Bezzecchi his fourth pole of the season.

Pecco Bagnaia heads row two on the leading Ducati after a final lap of 1m37.935s, with Alex Marquez starting alongside.

Johann Zarco got his LCR Honda onto the back of the second row in sixth ahead of factory HRC counterpart Joan Mir.

Jack Miller followed Yamaha stablemate Quartararo through Q1, but could only manage eighth on the Pramac-run M1 ahead of VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Tech3 KTM stand-in Pol Espargaro.

Fermin Aldeguer was 11th on the sister Gresini Ducati, while Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura completed the top 12.

Honda’s Luca Marini was denied a place in Q2 and will start 13th ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder, while 15th-placed Franco Morbidelli avoided a penalty for a close moment with Pramac’s Miguel Oliveira in Q1.

MotoGP debutant Nicolo Bulega will start from 18th on the factory Ducati, after a late mistake while on a fast lap scuppered his chances of a better qualifying result.