Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) is officially back with a sensational pole position at Jerez, the same track where he had a career-changing accident in 2020. He pipped Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) with a time of 1.46.773 on a wet track.
The oldest of the Marquez brothers set the pace early on in Q2 with a 1.48.016, with Pedro Acosta (GASGAS) trailing him by five tenths of a second.
By the time the riders completed heat 1 and came in to change tyres, Brad Binder (KTM) went to the top of the timesheet with 1.47.807. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin was playing mind games and following Francesco Bagnaia throughout the first heat and beating him (in laptimes) as well.
However, everything changed when the riders slapped fresh rain tyres in the back. While most went for soft rear rubber, some riders, like Marc, opted for the medium rear.
At the beginning of the second heat, with just over five minutes remaining, Pedro Acosta was showing blistering pace. Just when he was nearly seven tenths up and headed for provisional pole, he crashes in the last sector. He finishes qualifying in 10th place.
Soon, Marc Marquez went faster than every rider on the field and was unmatched by others. Bezzecchi came second with a 1.47.044 and Martin was third with 1.47.381.
Bagnaia, who showed strong pace on Friday, was nowhere to be found and came seventh, behind Brad Binder and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46).
As for the Aprilias, they came 11th (Maverick Vinales) and 12th (Aleix Espargaro), respectively and the Hondas and Yamahas were once again left to linger in the back of the field.
This was Marquez's first pole with Ducati, first pole since Portugal 2023 and his 93rd career pole. Will he be able to convert the pole position to sprint and race wins? Let us wait and watch.
