Pedro Acosta secured a stunning pole position at the end of an intense and action-packed qualifying session, confirming himself as the fastest rider ahead of an excellent Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez, who claimed the third-best time. It was a spectacular session that also featured strong performances from Jorge Martin and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while Saturday turned into a difficult day for Aprilia.
Q1 opened with a superb performance from Morbidelli, who set the fastest lap and secured a place in Q2 together with Jorge Martin. The Spanish rider, coming off two crashes on Friday — the second of which was particularly heavy — showed great determination and character by bouncing back immediately and earning a spot in the decisive session.
In Q2, Acosta immediately set the pace. The KTM rider posted impressive lap times, moving ahead of Di Giannantonio and Binder in the early stages, while Zarco tried to gain ground. Alex Marquez also impressed by climbing to provisional second place, while the Aprilia riders struggled to find the right rhythm.
Marco Bezzecchi never truly managed to fight for the top positions: first an unconvincing lap, then a crash that ultimately compromised his qualifying session. The Italian rider finished twelfth, opening the fourth row on the starting grid. More encouraging, however, was the performance of Raul Fernandez, who climbed as high as third during one phase of the session.
In the closing stages, Acosta made the difference with an extraordinary lap, improving his previous benchmark by seven tenths of a second and securing pole position. Behind him, a brilliant Morbidelli confirmed his excellent form, while Alex Marquez pushed until the very end in an attempt to improve but was unable to snatch second place.
At the checkered flag, Pedro Acosta celebrated a magnificent pole position ahead of Morbidelli and Alex Marquez. Jorge Martin finished ninth after a brave qualifying performance following his difficult Friday, while Bezzecchi ended the session in twelfth after a qualifying run to forget.