MotoGP: Five riders within a tenth and two rows within two sets up a showdown to remember in Valencia.
Less than a tenth splitting the top five in qualifying? Go on then! That’s exactly what we were served in the final pole position battle of the season, and it was a fight that was won by Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) as the fastest quintet all set times that are under the previous lap record. The Italian’s 1:28.809 was 0.026s quicker than Alex Marquez’s (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) effort, and 0.044s better than Fabio Di Giannantonio’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) personal best as we now strap in for what looks set to be an incredible Tissot Sprint.
Q1: Raul Fernandez and Zarco through as Bagnaia suffers bike problem
The opening stint in qualifying began with Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) crashing at Turn 8 on Yamaha’s V4, while it was the other Fernandez, Raul, who put his Trackhouse MotoGP Aprilia at the Q1 summit by 0.032s. Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) was an early P2, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) third in an incredibly close session. Aleix Espargaro (Honda HRC Test Team) was P4, but there was just 0.099s splitting the lead quartet.
With just under five minutes left, Pecco climbed into the top two to sit 0.030s off Raul Fernandez’s table-topping time. However, the #25 then slammed in a 1:29.036 to extend his advantage by over half a second. And then, there was a problem for Pecco. The double MotoGP World Champion was forced to stop at the side of the track, and then, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) knocked the Italian outside of the top two before Espargaro and then Zarco exchanged P2, meaning Pecco was shuffled down to P5 in the session.
And after Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) moved up to P3 late on, that was all she wrote in a dramatic Q1 session. Raul Fernandez and Zarco earned Q2 entry tickets, with Bagnaia set to start from P16 on the Valencia grid, one place ahead of the returning Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing).
Q2: how close do you like it?
And so, after a brief pause, the final Q2 of 2025 roared into life. Home hero Acosta fired in the fastest lap of the first attacks, a 1:29.298, with Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) going close. Bezzecchi had a huge moment at Turn 2 on his second flying lap, a trip into the gravel was the result for the Portuguese GP winner, as Alex Marquez slammed in the first 1:28 of the weekend.
A 1:28.967 was now the time to beat, as Morbidelli improved again to go P2, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) again working his magic over one lap to stick his YZR-M1 onto the provisional front row in P3.
Acosta, Fernandez and Di Giannantonio were making up the second row with six minutes left, with Bezzecchi down in P9 after his mistake. But the Italian was lighting up the timing screens on his first lap out on fresh rear Michelin rubber. And sure enough, the #72 was the new session leader with a 1:28.809. A new all-time lap record.
Quartararo improved his time to go P3, and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) slotted himself into P5 too. Acosta set a personal best, but Marquez and Di Giannantonio’s improvements shuffled the KTM star back off the front row, and then Fernandez fired his way into P4 as 0.096s split the top five with two minutes to go. Incredible!
Did anyone have anything for Bezzecchi’s record-breaker? The answer was no for Acosta; there wasn’t enough life left in his tyres, and the same could be said for everyone else. That meant Bezzecchi collected the curtain-closing pole position of the year in a fascinatingly close Q2 battle.
The top 12 on the Valencia grid
0.058s away from pole and not on the front row? The harsh realities of MotoGP ringing true for Fernandez, but from Q1, that’s a cracking result. Acosta will be frustrated to be P5 despite being less than a tenth off Bezzecchi’s time too, as Quartararo qualifies P6, 0.169s adrift of P1.
Morbidelli, Miller, and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) is the third row for the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), Zarco, and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) set to launch from P10, P11 and P12 respectively.
Coming up: the Tissot Sprint
That’s set the tone for the Sprint. How close do you like it? It should be a very tasty and competitive 13-lap dash at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, so don’t miss it.
Watch, like and subscribe to our Youtube channel
For more MotoGP info check out our dedicated MotoGP News page
Or visit the official MotoGP website www.motogp.com
©Words/Images are from an official press release posted courtesy of www.motogp.com
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!