Martin upsets Marquez to score surprise Motegi pole
MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin sniped Motegi pole position from title rival Marc Marquez after a substantial turnaround from Friday practice.
Martin, who was only eighth-fastest on Friday, maximised the final sector on his second Q2 run to jump ahead of Marquez by a tenth, securing the new Motegi pole record in the process.
Marquez had held provisional Japanese Grand Prix pole after the opening runs, but couldn't improve on his second Q2 outing - which included a trip into the gravel at Turn 3.
Third title contender Marco Bezzecchi took a front-row spot for the briefest of moments in the end, before surrendering it right away to Pedro Acosta, who had used Bezzecchi as reference.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) completed a top five covered by just 0.175s, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM), and Q1 graduate Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia).
LCR team-mates Diogo Moreira and Johann Zarco were next up, Zarco crashing in Q2, while Ai Ogura - who, like team-mate Fernandez, advanced from Q1 - and Fabio Quartararo rounded out the Q2 order.
Yellow flags triggered by a fast Brad Binder crash entering the Turns 12-13-14 sequence nearly compromised Fernandez in Q1 and nearly put defending Motegi winner Pecco Bagnaia through into Q2 instead - but Fernandez had enough time to go again and consign Bagnaia to fifth row on the grid.
Joining him on that row will be Ducati stablemate Franco Morbidelli and Q1 standout Somkiat Chantra. Chantra, riding as Joan Mir's substitute rider at the factory Honda team, produced a better qualifying result than any of his efforts in his full-time season in 2025 - and outqualified team-mate Luca Marini in the process.
It was a disappointing run to 18th on the grid for Fermin Aldeguer, as he outqualified only the returning Maverick Vinales and three Yamahas.
Qualifying results
1 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) 1m42.371s
2 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.110s
3 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.122s
4 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.159s
5 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +0.175s
6 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.257s
7 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +0.298s
8 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.370s
9 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.545s
10 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +0.547s
11 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.562s
12 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +0.751s
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13 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.123s to Q2
14 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +0.252s
15 Somkiat Chantra (Honda) +0.312s
16 Luca Marini (Honda) +0.394s
17 Brad Binder (KTM) +0.515s
18 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +0.535s
19 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +0.721s
20 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +0.927s
21 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +1.012s
22 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +1.147s
