Marc Márquez Pushes Ducati to Pole Position in Aragón

Saturday at the Aragón Grand Prix began without surprises, with Marc Márquez setting the fastest time in the thirty-minute free practice session, just before the battle for pole position. The Ducati rider maintained his lead in every session at the Alcañiz circuit, although rivals were closing in, with Pedro Acosta finishing just 141 thousandths behind the Spaniard. The most notable incident was a harmless crash by Álex Márquez. These were mere warm-up shots for the upcoming pole battle.

In the Q1 repechage, among others, were the poleman of the last three races, Fabio Quartararo, and the winner of the previous Silverstone race, Marco Bezzecchi. Far from salvaging the situation, the Italian complicated matters with a crash right at the start of qualifying, and although he managed to return to the box and complete at least one lap, he only managed to surpass Thai rider Chantra and will start second to last on the grid.

Quartararo did his homework, securing one of the two tickets to the decisive Q2, but not by much, as the only Ducati present in Q1, Di Giannantonio's, got ahead of him, and just 80 thousandths behind was Madrid's Raúl Fernández, who will open the fifth row of the grid, alongside Australian Jack Miller and Álex Rins, who will start 15th in his home race.

With Quartararo and Di Giannantonio joining the Q2 club, the twelve fastest riders of the weekend were ready to compete for a pole that seemed predictable but was more contested than expected. From the moment the green light was on, the favourite took the lead, setting a 1'45 on his first lap, already the fastest time of the weekend, securing him the front row. Marc Márquez made only one attempt at a fast lap with that tyre, while his rivals pushed for another lap, but none could improve on the leader's initial time.

The race wasn't over yet, as with the second set of soft tyres, the rivals raised the stakes. Marc made a mistake on his first attempt, but he had a second lap, which would be agonising, as both Álex Márquez and Franco Morbidelli had improved their times just minutes before the end.

It was then that the eight-time world champion unleashed his wild side, delivering a frenetic lap with his Ducati bucking several times, to achieve the best time of the morning, surpassing his brother's time by 260 thousandths and breaking the circuit record. "With the first tyre, I wanted to secure a front row position, and with the second, I had to push hard and made some mistakes. I got the pole, but the main focus today is the sprint," analysed Marc Márquez after securing his fifth pole of the season.

Once again, there will be two Márquez brothers leading the grid at a Grand Prix, with Marc first and Álex second. The younger Márquez expressed satisfaction after turning around a morning that began with a crash. "It wasn't easy to turn the situation around, but we did it. I reset and fought for the pole. So far, the goal of being on the front row is achieved, and now we'll see, as it's a weekend to minimise damage with Marc," confessed Álex Márquez.

Franco Morbidelli will close the front row, and Pecco Bagnaia will open the second, ahead of two KTMs that are proving very competitive at the Motorland Aragón circuit. Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder will start fifth and sixth, respectively. In seventh position and from the third row, rookie Fermín Aldeguer will start, ahead of another KTM, Maverick Viñales, and Fabio Quartararo, who finally finished ninth. Meanwhile, Di Giannantonio, Joan Mir, and Johann Zarco will start from the fourth row of the grid.