MotoGP Qualifying Aragon 2026: Bezzecchi takes pole ahead of Marquez

– With a new lap record, Marco Bezzecchi secured pole position at MotorLand Aragon. The Aprilia factory rider was 89 thousandths of a second faster than Marc Marquez (Ducati).

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After a difficult Friday practice, Francesco Bagnaia had to compete in Q1 again. The Ducati factory rider was in second place, a tenth of a second behind rookie Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda) after the first attempts.

In the second attempts, Bagnaia improved to 1:45.820 minutes and took the lead 0.021 seconds ahead of Moreira. Moreira, in turn, crashed two minutes before the time expired in turn 2.

However, nothing changed, and Bagnaia and Moreira advanced to Q2 (to the Q1 result). After his crash, Moreira ran back to the LCR garage and had only one motorcycle available for the second session.

In Q2, a new lap record was immediately set. In his first fast lap, Marc Marquez clocked 1:45.136 minutes. Bezzecchi’s first lap was not optimal, but afterwards he drove perfectly.

With 1:44.984 minutes, Bezzecchi was the first to lap under 1:45 minutes at MotorLand Aragon. Marc Marquez was 0.152 seconds behind after the first attempts. Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) was third (+0.277 seconds).

Exciting duel for pole position

At the beginning of the second attempts, Marc Marquez made a small mistake in turn 1 on his first lap. Nevertheless, he came within 0.067 seconds of Bezzecchi’s best time.

Moments later, Bezzecchi crossed the finish line, and the stopwatch stopped at 1:44.962 minutes. This extended his lead over Marc Marquez to 0.089 seconds.

Marc Marquez still had one attempt left, but he was already one and a half tenths of a second behind in the first sector. In the second sector, he was only 13 thousandths of a second behind Bezzecchi’s time.

However, Marc Marquez made a mistake in turn 14 afterwards, and the decision was made. “There is one rider, Marco, who currently has a better pace than us,” the world champion said about his narrow defeat.

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“Sometimes you just can’t do anything about it. You just try to do your best. That’s exactly what we did. As you could see, I pushed very hard at this braking point, maybe even a bit too hard. That’s why I had that moment.” Nevertheless, he says: “I’m happy because the feeling is good.”

For Bezzecchi, it was the third pole position of the season and the first since his home race in Mugello at the end of May. “Overall, it was a positive morning,” said the Italian.

“Qualifying was of course a lot of fun. I’m happy to be fast and to have taken pole position. But now the real work begins. Marc and Alex are both very fast in terms of pace with both tires. So it will be a tough fight.”

The other positions

Alex Marquez completed the first starting row. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia) and Jorge Martin (Aprilia) secured fourth and fifth places in the second row. Pedro Acosta followed in sixth.

One and a half minutes before the end of Q2, Acosta crashed in turn 8, causing yellow flags. As the best KTM rider, the Spaniard was six tenths of a second behind (to the Q2 result).

From the third starting row, Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati), Bagnaia, and returning Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda) will start. In the Grand Prix, Zarco must serve two long-lap penalties. It is a penalty for his starting accident in Barcelona.

The fourth starting row was occupied by Moreira, returning Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati), and Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati). All twelve riders were within one second.

The best Yamaha rider was Jack Miller (Pramac) in 13th place. Fabio Quartararo is experiencing a difficult weekend so far. The Yamaha factory rider qualified only 17th (to the starting grid).

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The 11-lap sprint starts at 3 p.m.