Pedro Acosta takes first MotoGP pole, Marquez loses record lap, Martin 11th
Marc Marquez stripped of Motegi lap record, handing a debut pole position to Pedro Acosta.
Marc Marquez looked to have put his recent MotoGP qualifying curse behind him as he blasted to the first ever 1m 42s lap of the Motegi circuit.
With only a few minutes to go, Marquez's nearest rival Pedro Acosta was not going fast enough to beat the Gresini rider.
But Marquez’s name suddenly disappeared from the top of the timing screens, followed by a message that he had exceeded track limits.
The loss of that lap not only handed pole position to Acosta but dropped Marquez back to ninth.
The Gresini pits were in uproar, although replays later confirmed that the #93 had indeed clipped the green just as the kerbing ended at the exit of Turn 4.
Marquez’s crew chief Frankie Carchedi suggested a delay in communicating the penalty denied Marquez the chance to try for another flying lap, although his post on X was later deleted.
Instead, after delivering the 1m 42.868s ‘pole time’, Marquez finished the session with two slow laps. That left his next best qualifying time a 1m 44.136s from his opening run.
Marquez’s cancelled pole lap wasn’t the only drama during the tense 15-minute Q2 session, which began with raindrops falling.
Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia had been 12th and last after his opening run, struggling badly for rear grip and pitting early for a tyre change.
The Italian’s fortunes then made a massive turnaround as he charged to second on the grid while title rival Jorge Martin crashed at the start of his final run and was left in 11th place.
Martin holds a 21-point lead over Bagnaia heading into this afternoon’s Sprint, when all eyes will again be on the weather, which is forecast to deteriorate.
Maverick Vinales was a surprise third for Aprilia at the stop-and-go track, while Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder and Franco Morbidelli will form row two of the grid.
VR46 team-mates Fabio di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi will start ahead of Marquez on row three.
Martin lines up between Alex Marquez and Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo on row four. Quartararo joined Morbidelli in progressing past Qualifying 1 where early leader Jack Miller was left punching the tank of his KTM in frustration.
Johann Zarco rebounded from a big final practice fall to be the top Honda rider in 16th.
The Motegi Sprint race starts at 3pm local time.
