Marco Bezzecchi maintained his weekend dominance by securing pole position at the 2026 MotoGP opener in Thailand.
The Rimini rider recorded an impressive 1.28.652s, a lap that could have been even quicker had he not crashed on his final run.
Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez stepped up to qualify in second place, lapping only 0.035s behind the RS-GP.
Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez locked out the front row, further bolstering Aprilia’s best qualifying result at the Chang International Circuit.
Fabio Di Giannantonio claimed fourth for the VR46 Ducati squad, closely followed by factory Aprilia’s Jorge Martin.
KTM rider Pedro Acosta took sixth, ahead of 2025 vice champion Alex Marquez. The Gresini rider finished 0.425s off the fastest time.
Ai Ogura secured ninth, meaning all Aprilia riders occupied the front three rows, with Franco Morbidelli lining up just behind.
Honda’s Joan Mir and KTM’s Brad Binder followed behind, with LCR rider Johann Zarco lapping 12th fastest.
Francesco Bagnaia’s struggles from 2025 continued into the season opener, with a series of laps highlighting his inability to get the bike working to his liking, which left him 13th on the grid.
Honda’s Luca Marini and rookie Diogo Moreira claimed 14th and 15th, respectively, with the latter impressing on his debut in the premier class.
Fabio Quartararo extracted the maximum from an uncompetitive Yamaha package to claim 16th spot, lapping three tenths behind Bagnaia.
KTM’s Maverick Vinales began his season opener by qualifying 17th, followed by the Yamaha duo of Jack Miller and Alex Rins.
Tech3 rider Enea Bastianini will start 20th on the grid, lapping ahead of MotoGP rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu.
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