Jorge Martín clinched pole position on Friday night (the 2nd) for the Japan Grand Prix, the 16th round of the 2026 MotoGP season. In a qualifying session marked by rivals’ mistakes at the Motegi circuit, the Aprilia rider and championship leader posted a 1:42.371 in Q2, claiming top spot for the fourth time this year.
The second place went to Marc Márquez, the Ducati rider who ran onto the grass during Q2 and was ultimately beaten by Martín by 0.110 seconds. The front row also includes Pedro Acosta, third with KTM. Marco Bezzecchi, aboard the other official Aprilia, starts fourth, opening a second row that will also feature Álex Márquez, with a Gresini Ducati, and Fabio Di Giannantonio, rider of VR46’s Ducati.
Enea Bastianini, rider of a Tech3 KTM, starts seventh on the grid, while Raúl Fernández, who came through Q1 with Trackhouse’s Aprilia, took eighth. The sole Brazilian on the grid, Diogo Moreira, starts ninth with LCR’s Honda, just ahead of his teammate Johann Zarco, who starts tenth. Ai Ogura, from Trackhouse, and Fabio Quartararo, on Yamaha, complete the top-12 on the grid.
Among the riders who fell in Q1 were Francesco Bagnaia, who ended up behind Fernández at the end and set the third time, starting 13th on a Ducati, sharing the fifth row with Franco Morbidelli, who had issues with VR46’s Ducati during the free practice ahead of the session, and Somkiat Chantra, 15th on a Honda.
The session featured crashes. With two minutes remaining in Q1, Brad Binder tumbled his KTM at Turn 15 of the Japanese circuit. In the final run of the qualifying, Zarco fell with the LCR Honda at Turn 9 in Motegi.
From 3:00 PM this Saturday (the 3rd) the Motegi Sprint will take place. The Japan Grand Prix will be contested on Sunday, with the start scheduled for 2:00 PM local time.
