Jorge Martin takes pole position in qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, delivering a stunning show of strength from Aprilia. The MotoGP championship leader finished ahead of fellow Aprilia riders Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, giving the Noale-based manufacturer an all-Aprilia front row.
The Spaniard stopped the clock at a new track record of 1:56.160, beating the previous benchmark set by Marco Bezzecchi in Practice. It is Martin’s second pole position of the season after his success at Assen, an especially significant result given the gap to his teammate during Friday’s session.
Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura will start alongside him on the front row, with both riders also looking highly competitive in terms of race pace. This could make Sunday’s race particularly intriguing, especially following the recent incidents involving Martin and several Aprilia riders.
Ducati, meanwhile, had to settle for the second row. Fabio Di Giannantonio was the fastest of the Bologna-based manufacturer’s riders, taking fourth place just 0.041 seconds behind Bezzecchi. The Italian rider, who qualified fifth, was unlucky in the closing stages: during his final time attack, he lost his rear wing, preventing him from making a final push for an improved lap time.
Once again, Aprilia showed clear superiority, particularly in the second half of the circuit. The Ducatis were able to match their rivals through the opening two sectors, but the RS-GPs made the difference in T3 and, above all, T4.
Marc Marquez will start from sixth place, alongside his brother Alex Marquez, who qualified seventh. Both riders managed to post red sectors in the first two parts of the lap, but they were unable to match Aprilia’s speed over the remainder of the circuit. Marc also had a major scare at Farm, where he came close to suffering a violent highside.
Franco Morbidelli qualified eighth after a strong recovery from Q1. Iker Lecuona also made it through the first qualifying session and once again impressed with a convincing performance. Pedro Acosta will start from ninth.
The biggest disappointment of the day, however, was Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati rider was surprisingly eliminated in Q1 and will start from 16th on the grid. His injured hand is inevitably still affecting him, but the biggest issue appears to be his difficulty finding the right braking feeling with the GP26.
Bagnaia therefore faces an uphill battle in the race. Martin, on the other hand, has sent a powerful warning to his rivals: pole position and the Silverstone lap record underline his status as the rider to beat, while Aprilia heads into the race with four bikes in the top five and potentially formidable race pace that could put the competition under serious pressure.