Qualifying report

MotoGP British GP: Martin on pole with Marquez only sixth

Aprilia continues to dominate the Silverstone weekend, with all four riders qualifying inside the top five

MotoGP points leader Jorge Martin beat Raul Fernandez by 0.021s in a last-lap effort to claim pole position for the British Grand Prix.

Trackhouse rider Fernandez appeared to have done enough to top qualifying for the first time in his MotoGP career, having lowered Marco Bezzecchi’s circuit record at Silverstone on his final run.

But factory Aprilia rider Martin had little more left in the tank, staging a late upset to secure his second pole position of the 2026 campaign.

At the start of Q2, Alex Marquez was the first rider to break the 1m57s barrier, before Raul Fernandez hit the front with a time of 1m56.593s.

Alex Marquez went fractionally quicker on the following lap, but his place at the top again proved to be short-lived, with his brother Marc Marquez firing in 1m56.527s to end the first runs on top.

As riders bolted on a fresh set of soft tyres, lap times quickly tumbled, with Friday pacesetter Bezzecchi going quicker than Marquez before Fernandez broke the circuit record to snatch the top spot.

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Fernandez had a comfortable advantage heading into the final minutes, but Martin managed to produce a sensational time of 1m56.160s to snatch the top spot.

Fernandez had to settle for second position, with his team-mate Ai Ogura ending up third in another front-row lockout for Aprilia.

VR46 rider Fabio di Giannantonio was Ducati’s best qualifier in fourth, his last effort leaving reigning British GP winner Bezzecchi in fifth. The latter, still not fully fit after his Sachsenring injuries, lost a chunk of his bike’s bodywork in the last part of qualifying and couldn’t improve his time.

The Marquez brothers were unable to maintain frontrunning pace in the second run, with reigning champion Marc ending up sixth and his Gresini-mounted brother Alex finishing seventh - both over three tenths adrift of pole.

Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli came through Q1 to guide his VR46 Ducati to eighth, beating the KTM of Pedro Acosta.

Iker Lecuona impressed again as a stand-in for the injured Franco Morbidelli, completing the top 10 on the Gresini Ducati after progressing to Q2 from the first part of qualifying.

The top 12 was completed by Jack Miller (Pramac) and Joan Mir (Honda).

Bagnaia eliminated in Q1

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Last year’s pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo waited until the last moment to set his final flying lap but ultimately missed out on a Q2 spot by just 0.050s, ending up 13th on the grid. The Yamaha rider will be joined on the fifth row of the grid by the Hondas of Diogo Moreira and Luca Marini.

Francesco Bagnaia endured his worst qualifying of the season on the factory Ducati and will take the start in 16th after struggling for speed throughout Q1. He will be followed by Yamaha’s Alex Rins and the KTMs of Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini.

Cal Crutchlow put his LCR Honda 20th on the grid for his home race, beating Maverick Vinales’ stand-in Pol Espargaro, Pramac rider Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez.

Q2

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89	Aprilia	7	1'56.160		182.572
2	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	6	+0.021 1'56.181	0.021	182.539
3	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79	Aprilia	7	+0.189 1'56.349	0.168	182.275
4	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	7	+0.255 1'56.415	0.066	182.172
5	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	7	+0.296 1'56.456	0.041	182.108
6	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	7	+0.367 1'56.527	0.071	181.997
7	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	7	+0.379 1'56.539	0.012	181.978
8	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	6	+0.729 1'56.889	0.350	181.433
9	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	7	+0.772 1'56.932	0.043	181.366
10	I. Lecuona Gresini Racing	27	Ducati	5	+1.162 1'57.322	0.390	180.764
11	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	6	+1.334 1'57.494	0.172	180.499
12	J. Mir Honda HRC	36	Honda	6	+1.883 1'58.043	0.549	179.659
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Q1

All Stats

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	6	1'57.173		180.993	336
2	I. Lecuona Gresini Racing	27	Ducati	6	+0.210 1'57.383	0.210	180.670	332
3	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	7	+0.260 1'57.433	0.050	180.593	327
4	D. Moreira Team LCR	11	Honda	7	+0.423 1'57.596	0.163	180.342	334
5	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	7	+0.704 1'57.877	0.281	179.912	335
6	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	7	+0.718 1'57.891	0.014	179.891	332
7	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	7	+0.767 1'57.940	0.049	179.816	330
8	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	6	+0.908 1'58.081	0.141	179.602	337
9	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	7	+0.947 1'58.120	0.039	179.542	334
10	C. Crutchlow Team LCR	35	Honda	7	+0.967 1'58.140	0.020	179.512	333
11	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44	KTM	7	+1.241 1'58.414	0.274	179.097	336
12	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7	Yamaha	7	+1.417 1'58.590	0.176	178.831	331
13	A. Fernandez Yamaha Factory Racing	47	Yamaha	7	+1.669 1'58.842	0.252	178.452	329
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