Jorge Martin snatches Japanese MotoGP pole from Marc Marquez
Jorge Martin beat MotoGP title rival Marc Marquez by 0.110s to claim pole position during a remarkably tight Motegi qualifying.
MotoGP title leader Jorge Martin emerged on top of a record-breaking pole position shootout for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
The factory Aprilia rider, only eighth on Friday, had hit back on Saturday morning by finishing second to team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in final practice.
Bezzecchi stuck with a medium rear tyre, while Martin set his best on a used soft.
The 2024 world champion’s preference for the soft paid dividends on new rubber in qualifying, setting a new lap record of 1m 42.371s to deny title rival Marc Marquez pole by 0.110s. To put that into perspective, the top seven riders were separated by just 0.298s.
Red Bull Ring winner Pedro Acosta has also looked much more competitive on the soft rear and put his KTM on the front row in third, only 0.122s from pole.
Bezzecchi was pushed back to fourth, heading row two ahead of Gresini Ducati’s Friday leader Alex Marquez and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio.
Enea Bastianini took seventh for Tech3 KTM, followed by Raul Fernandez, who had joined Trackhouse Aprilia team-mate Ai Ogura in advancing through Qualifying 1.
Honda rookie Diogo Moreira completed row three in ninth, ahead of team-mate Johann Zarco, who crashed.
Home hero Ogura was reduced to one bike after crashing in final practice and will start from eleventh, just ahead of Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo.
Last year’s double Motegi winner Pecco Bagnaia was seen gesturing in frustration towards his Ducati team during Qualifying 1, where he was ultimately unable to beat the two Trackhouse riders.
Bagnaia will start only 13th, alongside Franco Morbidelli and stand-in Honda rider Somkiat Chantra.
Chantra impressed with 15th in his first MotoGP qualifying appearance of the season, beating full-time HRC rider Luca Marini.
Maverick Vinales qualified 19th on his return from injury, ahead of Yamaha riders Jack Miller, Alex Rins and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The 12-lap Motegi Sprint starts at 3pm local time, 7am UK time.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
