MotoGP Aragon GP: Marquez blitz field to claim pole by eight tenths

Spanish ace thrives in Aragon by taking pole for the sprint as Bagnaia outqualifies Martin

Marc Marquez extended his dominance at MotorLand Aragon by taking his second MotoGP pole position of the season on the Ducati GP23.

The 31-year-old has headed all four sessions so far in the Aragon Grand Prix and is now favourite for the sprint as well as the 12th race of the season on Sunday.

Thunderstorms in the region created wet and damp sessions for all classes on Saturday morning, but as the skies cleared the sunshine quickly dried the asphalt.

Gresini rider Marquez was the man to beat at a venue where he has previously won five times and scored seven poles since the the circuit first welcomed MotoGP in 2010.

His fastest effort in Q2 was a hefty 0.8s ahead of Tech3's Pedro Acosta, the impressive MotoGP rookie who will launch from the front row for only the second time in 2024, while Marquez’s 2025 team-mate Francesco Bagnaia lines up in third place.

He said: “At the moment I feel super good. Eight tenths looks a lot, but we cannot forget in other tracks I was eight tenths away from pole! We have to keep the same mentality because the track is quite slippery and it’s easy to make a mistake.”

Reigning world champion Bagnaia said that Marquez was able to pull the large margin because he was able to tip-toe through the damp conditions.

He added: “Marc is taking different lines and doing different things; being 0.8 ahead is unbelievable.”

Bagnaia’s principal title rival Jorge Martin crashed on the approach to the left-hander Turn 5 in the first minute of Q2.

Martin, who has scored four sprint victories in 2024, grabbed the Pramac GP24 and took fourth to head the second row of the grid ahead of Alex Marquez (Gresini) and team-mate Franco Morbidelli, meaning five Ducatis fill the top six grid slots.

The third row will be headed by KTM's Brad Binder, who starts in seventh, marginally faster than Trackhouse Racing duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira. LCR's Johann Zarco gave Honda some renewed hope of improving by gatecrashing Q2 on his Honda. It was the first time a RC213V had been in the second part of qualifying in 2024 – and the Frenchman rounded out the top ten.

Enea Bastianini, who won the British Grand Prix and has taken three podium finishes from the last four rounds, could not piece a lap together in Q1 and was classified down in 14th.

MotoGP Aragon GP: Q2 results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	7	1'46.766		171.223	342
2	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	7	+0.840 1'47.606	0.840	169.886	349
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	7	+0.842 1'47.608	0.002	169.883	345
4	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	5	+0.876 1'47.642	0.034	169.829	345
5	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	7	+1.041 1'47.807	0.165	169.569	346
6	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	7	+1.348 1'48.114	0.307	169.088	342
7	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	5	+1.726 1'48.492	0.378	168.499	349
8	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	7	+1.784 1'48.550	0.058	168.409	344
9	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	8	+2.157 1'48.923	0.373	167.832	340
10	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	7	+2.314 1'49.080	0.157	167.590	338
11	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	7	+2.941 1'49.707	0.627	166.632	342
12	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	7	+3.760 1'50.526	0.819	165.398	339
View full results

MotoGP Aragon GP: Q1 results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	7	1'47.958		169.332	347
2	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	7	+0.060 1'48.018	0.060	169.238	349
3	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	7	+0.128 1'48.086	0.068	169.131	346
4	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	7	+0.584 1'48.542	0.456	168.421	345
5	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	7	+0.691 1'48.649	0.107	168.255	344
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	8	+0.729 1'48.687	0.038	168.196	340
7	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	8	+0.817 1'48.775	0.088	168.060	335
8	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	7	+1.123 1'49.081	0.306	167.589	338
9	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	7	+1.280 1'49.238	0.157	167.348	346
10	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	7	+1.844 1'49.802	0.564	166.488	345
11	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	7	+1.914 1'49.872	0.070	166.382	341
12	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	7	+2.162 1'50.120	0.248	166.007	346
View full results