Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) put in a stunner in qualifying at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Austria, taking pole position to deny Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) by just 0.015 seconds at the top. Third went to Pedro Acosta after the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider dominated Friday proceedings, the #37 within 0.071 of pole after a tight qualifying set us up for some thrillers in Spielberg.
Acosta aims for his first MotoGP Grand Prix win and second Tissot Sprint win – on KTM home turf. Martin steadies his aim at taking back the points lead from Marc Marquez – who will be just as eager to stop him.
Here’s how qualifying happened!
Q1
The spotlight was on Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) once again in Q1, and this time the two-time MotoGP World Champion made it through, with Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) pipping him to the top but both joining the top 12 shootout with exactly the same fastest lap.
Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) just lost out, left in P13 on the grid, along with replacement rider Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who looked like a dark horse after his FP1 heroics on Friday.
Q2
After the first runs, Acosta led Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), with the Aprilia duo of Martin and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) on the chase. But there was plenty more to come as the lap record prepared to be felled.
Martin was on a mission. He was first to improve to take over on top, with the gauntlet thrown down, and he bettered his own laptime on his next flyer. Acosta was putting in the red sectors but ultimately came up just short, Bezzecchi was also on a charge but couldn’t take over on top, and next time round it was Marc Marquez putting in the reds.
He did better his own laptime but it still wasn’t quite enough, forced to settle for second by just 0.015 – and then some drama hit for Alex Marquez, bringing out the yellow flags as he crashed at Turn 1, rider ok.
With the clock ticking down and yellows interrupting the track time, there was time only for one final push – and neither Acosta nor Marc Marquez could wring any more out of it. That 1:27.917 for Martin puts him on pole – right ahead of the rider equal on points with him in the Championship, Marc Marquez. Acosta starts from third, with much less to lose in the title fight and everything to win on KTM home turf.
The three are covered by less than a tenth.
THE GRID
Bezzecchi is fourth, well in the mix as he looks to claw back points on Marc Marquez and Martin, with Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) fifth and a dark horse for much more with his form at the Red Bull Ring. Alex Marquez takes sixth despite that crash.
Bagnaia slots into seventh, a big step up after a difficult Misano, with Fabio Di Giannanotnio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P8 looking for more nd Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) doing a solid job in ninth. Zarco completes the top ten, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) next up.
Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) will be looking for much more when the lights go out. On the podium here last season and with some searing late race pace, in 2026 he’ll launch from P12 ahead of Fernandez.
Tune in for the Spielberg Sprint at 15:00 before the GP kicks off on Sunday from 14:00.
FULL RESULTS from MotoGP qualifying at the Red Bull Ring