Jorge Martin Edges Marc Marquez to Claim Pole Position in Japan

Jorge Martin claimed his second consecutive and fourth overall pole position of the MotoGP season after topping qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The battle for pole at Motegi turned into a direct duel between Martin and Marc Marquez. The initial advantage belonged to the world champion, who laid down a 1:42.481 benchmark on his very first flying lap of the session. Meanwhile, the "Martinator" found himself down in fifth after the opening runs, 0.433 seconds adrift.

On his second run, however, the championship leader delivered a flying 1:42.371 to edge ahead of Marquez by 0.110 seconds. The world champion failed to improve on his opening effort after making mistakes at Turn 3 on two consecutive laps, leaving him to settle for second on the grid.

Last time out winner in Austria, Pedro Acosta, will line up third after finishing just 0.122 seconds behind Martin. Acosta securing third means the front row at Motegi will be an exact replica of the grid from the Red Bull Ring two weeks ago.

Just as in Spielberg, Marco Bezzecchi will launch from fourth, sharing the second row with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Enea Bastianini, Raul Fernandez, and Diogo Moreira lock out row three ahead of Johann Zarco, Ai Ogura, and Fabio Quartararo on row four.

Home favourite Ogura set the pace at the end of Q1 with a 1:42.883 lap, edging out Trackhouse Aprilia teammate Fernandez by just 0.001 seconds. The duo advanced to the 15-minute pole shootout, while Francesco Bagnaia was the first to miss the cut, finishing 0.123 seconds behind Fernandez.

As a result, the two-time reigning Japanese Grand Prix winner will start 13th. The Italian will be joined on the fifth row by Franco Morbidelli and Somkiat Chantra, who is deputising for the unwell Joan Mir at Honda. It marks a career-best MotoGP qualifying result for the former LCR Honda rider, who outqualified his temporary teammate Luca Marini by 0.082 seconds, with Marini lining up 16th.

Brad Binder suffered a high-speed crash in the closing stages, which nearly cost Fernandez a place in Q2 after the Spaniard lost a lap to yellow flags. However, the Trackhouse Aprilia rider recovered on his following tour to knock Bagnaia out, while Binder ended the session seventh and will start 17th.

Fermin Aldeguer heads the sixth row ahead of Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, and Alex Rins, who share row seven. Toprak Razgatlioglu will start alone on the back row, with only the Turkish rider and Rins finishing more than a second off Ogura's Q1 pace.

The Japanese Grand Prix weekend, round 16 of the 2026 MotoGP season, continues with the 12-lap Motegi Sprint.