Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia Racing secured pole position for the opening round of the 2026 MotoGP season at the Buriram circuit in Thailand, despite a late crash in qualifying. The Italian rider clocked a time of 1:28.652, narrowly edging out reigning World Champion Marc Marquez of Ducati Lenovo Team, who finished just 0.035 seconds behind.
The qualifying session saw Raul Fernandez of Trackhouse MotoGP Team likewise secure a front-row start, completing a strong showing for Aprilia with a third-place finish. The top three were separated by less than a tenth of a second, setting the stage for a closely contested race on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Q1 saw Francesco Bagnaia, the double MotoGP World Champion, struggle to advance, ultimately qualifying in 13th position. Fernandez and Franco Morbidelli of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secured their places in Q2, with Morbidelli crashing at Turn 3 but maintaining his qualifying position.
Bezzecchi had established a commanding lead in Q2, initially setting a time of 1:28.914, with teammate Jorge Martin close behind. Yet, Marquez quickly closed the gap, improving his time on subsequent laps. Bezzecchi then responded with a blistering lap of 1:28.652, extending his advantage before a crash at Turn 12 threatened to jeopardize his pole position.
Despite the late crash, Bezzecchi’s earlier time remained unchallenged, securing him pole position. Marquez managed a final lap of 1:28.687, falling just short of overtaking the Aprilia rider. Fernandez solidified his front-row start with a time of 1:28.876.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) will start fourth, followed by Martin, who achieved his first top-ten qualifying result with Aprilia. Pedro Acosta of KTM will start sixth, with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in seventh.
Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) qualified eighth, followed by Morbidelli. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) will round out the top twelve, starting from tenth, eleventh, and twelfth positions respectively.
The qualifying results indicate a strong challenge to Marquez’s dominance, with Aprilia demonstrating a significant performance improvement. Bezzecchi’s pole position marks a promising start to the season for the Italian rider and the Aprilia team. The Tissot Sprint race is scheduled to begin at 15:00 local time, promising an early indication of the competitive landscape for the 2026 MotoGP season.
