Aprilia delivered in Mandalika Q2: Fernandez on pole, Marquez ahead of Martin

The ten fastest MotoGP riders from Friday’s sessions became an interesting dozen as the decisive qualifying session got underway. This was because Ai Ogura, another Aprilia rider, had made it through in Q1. It was no walk in the park for the Japanese rider – in the final session, he crashed out on the customer Aprilia. Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer, who had won the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix, also made it through.

Also noteworthy: Yamaha rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu refused to let a sore shoulder stop him from giving it a go. The Turkish rider clocked a time of 1:30.532 – securing 19th on the grid. In Q1, a number of riders had crashed out. Zarco, Moreira, Miller and Bastianini all went off the track. Yamaha rider Rins found himself in a tight spot – the Spaniard had missed out on the final spot in Q2 by 0.105 seconds.

At 11.20 am local time, the question on everyone’s lips was: who would secure the best starting position for the 2026 Indonesian Grand Prix? The clear favourites were the Aprilia aces: Bezzecchi, Martin and Fernandez. But the first strike went to Marc Marquez. The champion was 0.025 s faster than Marco Bezzecchi on his first attempt – and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who clocked the same lap time as ‘Bez’.

90 seconds later, the picture had changed. Marco Bezzecchi had stormed to a time of 1:28.961, followed by Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez. Jorge Martin, on the other hand, managed only 7th place behind Pedro Acosta in his first attempt.

After a pit stop, the battle for pole position went down to the wire with just under seven minutes to go before the chequered flag. Once again, it was Raul Fernandez who was the most aggressive. The Madrid-born rider pushed the fastest time down to 1:28.862 minutes. Seconds later, Fabio Di Giannantonio had displaced Marc Márquez from the line-up. ‘Diggia’ moved up to P3 behind Fernández and Bezzecchi.

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Mandalika: Qualifying Moto3

MotoGP World Championship

10.10.2026 - 06:40

With three minutes to go, Fermin Aldeguer, who was in sixth place, crashed out. It was the third crash for last year’s winner. That left the riders with just one lap. Marc Marquez initially gave it his all, clocking a new fastest time through Sector 1. However, in the second sector, the world champion lost so much time that he spun out.

Pole position was thus secured for Raúl Fernández and Trackhouse Racing. The Spaniard will start both races at Mandalika ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Marc Márquez won the World Championship duel against Jorge Martín – Márquez was 0.034 seconds faster in fourth place. The front row is completed by Fermin Aldeguer. Disappointment for KTM: Acosta could only manage seventh place behind Ogura and Alex Marquez. Pecco Bagnaia put in a strong performance. Following last year’s fiasco in Indonesia, the Ducati-Lenovo rider now starts from 10th position.