Pole position winner, Ducati Lenovo's Spanish rider Marc Marquez, celebrates with his team following the qualifying session for the Qatar Moto GP Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit on April 12, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Lusail: Marc Marquez stormed to pole position on Saturday, setting a new lap record at Lusail International Circuit just moments after his brother, Alex Marquez—the current championship leader—had briefly held the benchmark during qualifying for both the Qatar sprint and MotoGP races.
Two-time world champion Francesco Bagnaia suffered a late-session crash that left him with only the 11th fastest time. He will start on the fourth row of the grid.
France’s Fabio Quartararo secured the final spot on the front row aboard his Yamaha—his first front row start in three seasons—and will share the front line with the Marquez brothers, who are both riding Ducatis.
Ducati’s Marc Marquez kept his perfect pole streak – his fourth consecutive this season – alive by clocking a record-breaking lap of 1m50.499s, edging out his brother Alex Marquez—riding the Gresini-prepared GP24 Ducati—by just 0.101 seconds. It is Marc Marquez’s 70th pole position of his career—and his first in Qatar since 2014.
Ducati Lenovo's Spanish rider Marc Marquez takes part in the free practice session of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, north of Doha, on April 11, 2025. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Defending champion Jorge Martin, making his season debut after recovering from multiple bone fractures, failed to reach the final qualifying session. He will start from the fifth row when the sprint race gets underway at 8pm (Doha time).
Grid for the sprint and MotoGP race at the Qatar Grand Prix after qualifying in Lusail on Saturday:
Front row
Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati), Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini), Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha)
2nd row
Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-VR46), Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46), Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM-Tech3)
3rd row
Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR), Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini), Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha),
4th row
Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse), Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati), Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM)
5th row
Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia), Jorge Martin (ESP/Aprilia), Luca Marini (ITA/Honda)
6th row
Jack Miller (AUS/Yamaha-Pramac), Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse), Brad Binder (RSA/KTM)
7th row
Augusto Fernandez (ESP/Pramac-Yamaha), Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM Tech3), Joan Mir (ESP/Honda),
8th row
Somkiat Chantra (THA/Honda-LCR)
