Marco Bezzecchi stunned the paddock at MotorLand Aragon on Saturday, becoming the first rider ever to dip below the 1:45 barrier at the Spanish circuit with a historic 1:44.962 to claim pole position for the Aragon Grand Prix. The Aprilia Racing rider edged reigning world champion Marc Marquez by just 0.089 seconds in a thrilling Q2 battle.
Bezzecchi, third in the riders' standings and still nursing injuries sustained at the Sachsenring, set the tone from the opening exchanges of qualifying. The Italian produced two laps in the 1:44s during Q2, an unprecedented feat at MotorLand, while Marquez could not match the Aprilia's raw speed despite breaking the previous lap record on his first flying attempt.
"The session was positive. I'm happy to grab the pole, but now the real job starts," said Bezzecchi. "Marc and Alex are both super fast in terms of pace with both the medium and soft rear tyres. It's going to be a tough fight."
Marquez, who had been unbeaten in any Aragon track session since joining Ducati in 2025, pushed his Desmosedici to the absolute limit in an attempt to reclaim pole. The Spaniard lowered the lap record to 1:45.136 on his first flying lap, building a half-second cushion over the field. But Bezzecchi soon dismantled that advantage with a 1:44.984, then improved further to 1:44.962 on his final run.
Marquez made critical errors on both of his late attempts. He ran wide at Turn 1 on his second run, managing only a 1:45.051, and then nearly crashed at Turn 14 on his final lap when just 0.013 seconds off Bezzecchi's pace through sector two. "As you saw in qualifying, I pushed hard. On the brake points, maybe too much!" Marquez smiled afterwards. "There is one rider, that is Marco, who at the moment has a better pace than us. So sometimes you cannot do anything. It's just try to do your best."
Alex Marquez completed the front row in third, 0.299 seconds behind his Gresini Ducati stablemate Bezzecchi. "I'm happy with this front row. It was the objective," the younger Marquez said. "In qualifying we turned things around in a really good way."
Raul Fernandez heads the second row in fourth on the Trackhouse Aprilia (+0.413), with championship leader Jorge Martin fifth (+0.489) and Pedro Acosta sixth for KTM despite a late crash at Turn 9. Francesco Bagnaia came through Q1 to qualify eighth, while Johann Zarco made an impressive return in ninth after three months out with a leg injury. Franco Morbidelli rounded out the top 12 after a controversial blocking incident in the closing stages of qualifying.
The session was overshadowed by the absence of Ai Ogura, ruled out with a broken left hand suffered in a motocross incident, with Lorenzo Savadori standing in at Trackhouse. Bezzecchi, who can gain ground in the standings with Ogura sidelined, faces the sprint race this afternoon and Sunday's main event with a realistic shot at extending his championship challenge.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1103222/1/marco-bezzecchi-beats-marc-marquez-aragon-motogp-pole-historic-lap
- https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2026/08/29/bezzecchi-beats-marc-marquez-to-pole-in-record-breaking-aragon-q2/1087035
- https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1103227/1/sometimes-you-cannot-do-anything-marc-marquez-reacts-aragon-pole-defeat
