Marco Bezzecchi denied Marc Márquez pole position at the Spaniard’s strongest circuit, posting a new MotorLand Aragon lap record of 1:44.962s in Q2 to take Saturday’s Tissot Sprint from the front.
The official MotoGP account captured the moment with a video of the final time attacks and the line “@marcmarquez93 tried but BEZ MAKES IT TWO 1:44.9s.” The “two” referred to Bezzecchi topping both Friday Practice and Saturday qualifying, the second time he has led the timesheets this weekend after also setting a then-record 1:45.455s on Friday.
Márquez, an eight-time winner at Aragon including seven premier-class victories, finished 0.089s behind on the Ducati Lenovo machine. His younger brother Álex Márquez completed an all-Spanish second and third on the Gresini Ducati, 0.299s off pole. The front row is therefore Bezzecchi, Marc Márquez and Álex Márquez.
The rest of the top six is tightly packed: Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Aprilia) fourth, championship leader Jorge Martín (Aprilia) fifth and Pedro Acosta (KTM) sixth. Francesco Bagnaia, who had to come through Q1, starts eighth.
Bezzecchi’s form is notable because the Italian is still managing lingering effects from collarbone and knee injuries sustained earlier in the season. On Friday he had already said Márquez was “hiding a little bit” and remained “the man to beat.” Saturday’s qualifying suggested the gap is smaller than expected at a track that has long been Márquez territory.
Martín still leads the championship on 240 points, with Bezzecchi second on 209 and Márquez fourth on 200. The 11-lap Sprint later on Saturday will be the first chance to convert this unexpected qualifying result into points.
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