QatarGP: Bezzecchi Breaks Lap Record Twice to Pole-Sitter

Marco Bezzecchi took pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit on Saturday, 7 November 2026. His new lap record of 1m50.028s beat championship leader Marc Marquez by 0.266 seconds. It was the Aprilia rider's fifth pole of the season in round 20 of 22.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, who won this race in 2023, completed the front row for VR46 Ducati, 0.299s off the pace. Qualifying took place in dry conditions, with the air at 34°C and the track at around 40°C. "I can't complain at all," Bezzecchi said. "Perfect qualifying. I wanted to start in the front row and the pole position is even better. So, very happy."

The day began with Q1, which had only eight riders because Yamaha's withdrawal cut the Lusail field to 18. Just two of them could join the ten riders who had gone straight into Q2 through Friday's practice. Aldeguer set the benchmark for BK8 Gresini with a 1m50.876s on his sixth lap, a strong result from a rider who broke his hand at Mandalika. Acosta, who had also missed direct entry on Friday, took the second transfer place 0.267s behind him. Franco Morbidelli moved up to third late in the session but couldn't catch Acosta, missing out by just 0.128s. His 1m51.271s leaves him 13th on the grid. Luca Marini was fourth in the session and will start 14th, 0.474s off Aldeguer's time. Behind him come Gresini stand-in Iker Lecuona in 15th (0.511s), LCR's Diogo Moreira in 16th (0.628s) and Honda stand-in Jake Dixon in 17th (0.745s). Tech3 KTM's Maverick Viñales was last in 18th, 1.115s adrift.

Dixon's was one of the more notable runs in Q1. The Honda World Superbike rider, who is replacing Mir at Honda HRC Castrol, will make his first MotoGP start since 2021, when he made two starts for Petronas Yamaha SRT during his Moto2 career. After a mishap in the first practice session, he cut his lap time by more than two seconds on Friday evening. In Q1 he finished just 0.117s behind Moreira and ahead of Viñales. It was a tougher weekend for Moreira, who also missed direct Q2 entry on Friday after finishing 17th in practice.

Q2 quickly became a two-man fight. Marquez set the early pace on his Ducati, going top on his first flying lap with a 1m50.361s that was itself a new lap record. Bezzecchi's first lap was spoiled by yellow flags after Brad Binder crashed at Turn 1 early in the session. He answered with a 1m50.065s on his second lap, taking the record and moving 0.296s clear. Marquez improved to 1m50.294s on his final run but couldn't get any closer, while Bezzecchi lowered the record again to 1m50.028s. That beat the 1m50.406s that Di Giannantonio set under the floodlights on Friday by 0.378s, even though qualifying was run in the afternoon heat.

Di Giannantonio was only 0.033s behind Marquez in third, which backed up his Friday form, when he topped practice 0.142s ahead of the Ducati rider. Raul Fernandez led the second row in fourth, 0.429s off pole, after withdrawing from Sepang through injury. Francesco Bagnaia was fifth (0.564s), with Ai Ogura just 0.004s behind him in sixth. Johann Zarco's seventh place (0.707s) was an encouraging result for Honda, who had no other rider in Q2. Acosta and Aldeguer shared the third row in eighth and ninth, separated by 0.018s. Acosta found 0.271s from his Q1 lap, which kept his record of never being out-qualified by a MotoGP team-mate intact, as Binder was only 12th. Aldeguer, by contrast, was 0.014s slower in Q2 than in Q1.

At the back of Q2, Enea Bastianini was 10th for Tech3 KTM (0.973s), with Martin 11th (1.036s). Binder, whose crash had affected Bezzecchi's first run, ended up 12th, 1.876s off pole. He had taken the last direct Q2 place on Friday by just 0.038s. Both Q1 graduates beat three of the ten riders who had gone straight through, which shows how much that session mattered. The result was a blow to Martin, who is second in the championship and abandoned an attempted return from injury at Sepang last weekend. He was left frustrated as he could go no faster than 11th, more than a second slower than team-mate Bezzecchi.

Marquez leads the championship on 399 points, 44 clear of Martin (355) and 67 ahead of Bezzecchi (332), with Acosta 104 behind. A total of 111 points are available across the final three rounds in Qatar, Portugal and Valencia. To be crowned champion in Qatar, Marquez must outscore Martin by 30 points over the weekend and Bezzecchi by eight, or seven if he wins the Grand Prix. In practice, that means a near-perfect weekend from Marquez and a poor one for both Aprilia riders, and no title can be decided on Saturday. Clinching it would give him his 10th world championship and take him past the record he shares with Valentino Rossi.

The grid gives the contenders and manufacturers a mixed picture. Marquez has the advantage of starting on the front row, nine places ahead of Martin. However, Bezzecchi was a quarter of a second quicker, and Marquez must beat the Aprilia rider's weekend as well as Martin's. Bezzecchi has pole and a title chance that is still alive, but he's 67 points behind and needs Marquez to stumble. Martin has the hardest job, because he has to recover from 11th while still working his way back from injury. Among the manufacturers, Aprilia hold pole and also have bikes in fourth, sixth and 11th. Ducati start second, third, fifth, ninth, 13th and 15th. KTM's best is Acosta in eighth, with Bastianini 10th, Binder 12th and Viñales last. Honda have Zarco seventh, but Marini, Moreira and Dixon start 14th, 16th and 17th. The pace was tight at the front, with the top six covered by 0.568s and the top 11 by 1.036s.

QatarGP 2026: Qualifying Times

The Sprint follows later on Saturday, with the Grand Prix on Sunday, 8 November. How much of Bezzecchi's one-lap speed carries into race trim will decide whether the title race stays alive until Portugal and Valencia. Marquez still holds the upper hand, with a 44-point lead and a front-row start. However, Bezzecchi's record lap was a reminder that Aprilia have the speed to disrupt his plans. The full grid reads, row by row: Bezzecchi, Marquez and Di Giannantonio; Fernandez, Bagnaia and Ogura; Zarco, Acosta and Aldeguer; Bastianini, Martin and Binder; Morbidelli, Marini and Lecuona; Moreira, Dixon and Viñales.

Credit Photo : MotoGP