MotoGP Qatar, Bezzecchi takes record pole at Lusail ahead of Márquez

Marco Bezzecchi takes qualifying for the Qatar GP and makes his mark at Lusail with pole position in 1:50.028, a new outright track record. Bezzecchi’s Aprilia goes ahead of Marc Márquez, who ends up second, 266 thousandths behind with a time of 1:50.294, while Fabio Di Giannantonio completes the front row with the Ducati of VR46 in 1:50.327.

Bezzecchi had already sent a strong signal in the morning, then in Q2 he found the right lap at the right moment. Starting from pole gives him his 14th career pole in the premier class and comes in a weekend that, according to Motorsport.com, still keeps the world championship battle alive for Márquez in the two races of the weekend. The Ducati rider can play for the first world title match point if he scores 8 points more than Bezzecchi and 30 more than Jorge Martín.

Behind the top three, Raul Fernández puts the Aprilia Trackhouse into fourth place, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and Ai Ogura. The first six places show a clear balance between Aprilia and Ducati, with three bikes apiece. Johann Zarco ends up seventh, Pedro Acosta is eighth and Fermín Aldeguer, promoted from Q1, takes ninth.

Grid and track

The next part of the standings puts Enea Bastianini in tenth position, while Jorge Martín starts 11th and finds himself further back than expected. The Aprilia rider from Spain is dealing with a fracture to his right radius and in qualifying cannot put together a clean lap, finishing more than a second off Bezzecchi's benchmark. Behind him are Luca Marini, Iker Lecuona, Diogo Moreira, Jake Dixon and Maverick Viñales, with the grid stretching back to 16th place.

At Lusail, meanwhile, the image of the day remains: Bezzecchi ahead of Márquez and Di Giannantonio. The Aprilia rider also admitted there was room for improvement in his fastest lap: «And I also made a mistake at the final corner», Bezzecchi told Gazzetta. At 17:00 MotoGP returns to the track for the Sprint, while the work at Aprilia and Ducati continues after a qualifying session that reshuffled the order at the front.