Points leader Jorge Martin takes Silverstone MotoGP pole with new lap record
Jorge Martin led an Aprilia 1-2-3 in a tense qualifying at the British Grand Prix
Jorge Martin claimed pole position for the 2026 MotoGP British Grand Prix after beating his Aprilia rivals with a new lap record.
The lap record was smashed on Friday by factory Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, in what was already seen as a show of force from the Noale brand.
But that benchmark was beaten again on Saturday afternoon at Silverstone, after championship leader Jorge Martin on the sister factory Aprilia produced a 1m56.160s.
Struggling in recent rounds, Martin has gone back to a set-up he used earlier in the season and feels much more confident on the RS-GP.
He headed an Aprilia 1-2-3 ahead of the Trackhouse pair of Raul Fernandez, whose wait for a first pole continues, and his team-mate Ai Ogura.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the leading Ducati in fourth, while Marc Marquez could only manage sixth on the factory team Ducati.
Team-mate Pecco Bagnaia failed to make it through to Q2 and qualified a season-worst 16th.
The Q2 shootout began with Alex Marquez on the Gresini Ducati setting the reference lap at 1m56.868s, which was instantly bettered by Fernandez on a 1m59.593s.
Alex Marquez responded with a 1m56.539s, before Marc Marquez - who survived a scare at Turn 2 on his opening lap - posted a 1m56.527s to take over top spot.
With three minutes remaining of the 15-minute Q2 shootout, Bezzecchi found a 1m56.456s, though this was blown away by a new lap record from Fernandez on a 1m56.181s.
Both Martin and Marc Marquez put this under threat, with the former edging ahead by 0.021s on his final lap to snatch a second pole of the season.
Marquez’s lap went away from him and he could do no better than sixth behind a still-injured Bezzecchi, and Di Giannantonio.
Alex Marquez, who was labelled the pre-race favourite, was seventh on the Gresini Ducati, with VR46 Ducati’s Franco Morbidelli coming through Q1 to qualify eighth.
Pedro Acosta was ninth on the leading KTM, while Gresini stand-in Iker Lecuona impressed in 10th after following Morbidelli through Q1.
Jack Miller was 11th on the Pramac Yamaha, with Joan Mir completing the top 12 on his factory Honda.
Fabio Quartararo missed out on a Q2 place by just 0.050s on his Yamaha and will start 13th ahead of Honda duo Diogo Moreira (LCR) and Luca Marini.
Bagnaia’s difficult Silverstone weekend continued with a dismal qualifying, as the Italian struggled to 16th on his Ducati.
The double world champion was the only Ducati rider not to make it through to Q2.
