For the first time in MotoGP, Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) will launch from pole position as a tantalising qualifying scrap unfolds at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia. It’s an Aprilia 1-2 at the spearhead of the grid thanks to Marco Bezzecchi’s (Aprilia Racing) efforts, the Italian 0.109s adrift of Fernandez’s 1:28.852, and denying Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) a front row start on Lombok was a rather rapid birthday boy on Saturday morning – Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) the rider to join Fernandez and Bezzecchi on the front row.
Q1: ALDEGUER & OGURA JUMP TO Q2 IN DRAMA-FILLED QUALI OPENER
Straight out of the qualifying crate, 2025 Indonesian GP winner Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) set his best lap of the weekend to top the early running in the opening 15-minute time attack stint, before his time was beaten by Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team). A 1:29.729 saw the Japanese rider rise above Aldeguer by 0.016s before Aldeguer returned to P1 by 0.090s, as Ogura then crashed in the closing stages at Turn 12 to see his session end prematurely. And sitting in P2, would Ogura keep his Q2 promotion place?
It was a session of attrition in Q1. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), who crashed on his first flying lap at Turn 1, and Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) crashed at Turn 2 within a second of each other. Elsewhere, Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) hit the deck at Turn 1, and Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) was also a crasher at the opening corner too.
All of this did mean Ogura kept his top two place, with Aldeguer sailing through too. A quick shoutout too for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP). Less than an hour after dislocating his right shoulder in FP2, the Turk qualified less than a second off Aldeguer’s top time in Q1. Chapeau.
Q2: FERNANDEZ FLIES TO POLE AS MM93 & JM89 MISS OUT ON FRONT ROW
At the end of the first flyers in the battle for pole, Marc Marquez led Bezzecchi by 0.025s as the title chasers set 1:29.2s, but the pace was about to turn up a notch or two. Di Giannantonio briefly climbed to P2 before Bezzecchi fired home a 1:28.961 to sail to provisional pole, with Fernandez slotting into second place – 0.211s away from the Italian.
The first two time attack efforts from Martin didn’t go as planned. The title race leader sat P7, 0.814s adrift of his teammate. And heading out for the final six minutes of qualifying in Indonesia, Martin was shadowed by Marc Marquez. In other words, the top two in 2026’s title race thriller were together, and having been given the message that he was being followed by the #93, Martin couldn’t shake off the seven-time MotoGP World Champion from his tailpipes.
Just ahead of duo on track was Fernandez, and it was the Practice pacesetter who set a 1:28.852 to go P1. Martin and Marc Marquez both improved, the Ducati star slightly quicker, with the championship top two sat P4 and P5 in the session with three minutes to go as Di Giannantonio leapt back onto the front row.
Bezzecchi was then setting the timing screens alight, but his lap was halted after Aldeguer crashed at Turn 16. That brought out the yellow flags, but there was enough time left on the clock for Bez to have another bite at the cherry.
An improvement didn’t come on his latest attempt, though. Had the life from that soft rear Michelin disappeared? What had gone was Marc Marquez’s pole and front row chances. Despite a session-best first split, the time went away in the second split, and with that, Q2 drew to a close.
Fernandez will launch from his first MotoGP pole position in the Tissot Sprint and Grand Prix in Indonesia, with Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio joining the Trackhouse star on the front row.
A blockbuster Row 2 sees Marc Marquez launch from P4, Martin fires away from P5, and 2025 winner Aldeguer go from P6. Ogura recovered from his Q1 crash to qualify in P7 to sit ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) on the grid, the top nine split by half a second, while Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) make up P10, P11, and P12 on the grid.
COMING UP: WE GO SPRINTING IN INDONESIA
That’s an intriguing grid, isn’t it? The top two in the title race off the front row, with the stakes incredibly high going into this afternoon. Don't miss it. 15:00 local time.
MotoGP qualifying results from Indonesia!