Jorge Martin pipped Marc Marquez to pole position for the Japanese MotoGP round in a sensational qualifying session.
The tension was high as the three main title protagonists and maiden winner from Austria, Pedro Acosta, went into qualifying as favourites and produced a suspense-filled battle for pole.
Marquez came out firing first as he smashed the existing lap record by almost four tenths with his first lap time, posting the benchmark of 1:42.481s.
With two minutes left of the session, Jorge Martin replaced Marquez at the top, once again breaking the lap record with a 1:42.371s.
However, Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi both kept setting red sectors as they continued to pursue Martin at top spot and although both were hundredths within the provisional pole time, neither had enough to displace Martin at the top.
Martin claimed back-to-back poles for the first time in 2026 as he maintained his place at the top of the timesheet in a boost to his status as the championship leader.
Marquez was forced to settle for second place after Martin’s lap time, while Acosta benefitted from a tow from Bezzecchi to complete the front row in third position.
The slipstream relegated Bezzecchi to the head of the second row, where he was joined by Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio in fifth and sixth.
Enea Bastianini qualified seventh ahead of Raul Fernandez, while Diogo Moreira out-qualified Johann Zarco with both LCR riders in ninth and 10th.
Ai Ogura qualified 11th for his home grand prix, as Fabio Quartararo took 12th for Yamaha.
Francesco Bagnaia once again exited in Q1, missing out by 0.124s and stranded in 13th, and would be joined on the fifth row by Franco Morbidelli and Somkiat Chantra.
Chantra out-qualified factory Honda team-mate Luca Marini, who headed the sixth row in 16th, while Brad Binder crashed with two minutes left on the clock and could only manage 17th.
Fermin Aldeguer qualified a disappointing 18th ahead of Maverick Vinales in 19th, with a trio of Yamaha riders completing the standings – as Jack Miller took 20th, Alex Rins 21st and Toprak Razgatlioglu rounding out the results in 22nd.
Discussion about this post