MotoGP Misano: Bezzecchi blows everyone away, record pole position

Aprilia number 72 on top at Misano, a great duel with Marquez is expected. Bagnaia disappoints and pounds his fists on his Ducati.

Qualifying for the 2026 San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix ended with pole position for Marco Bezzecchi, who set a record time of 1'29"982. In the final moments Marc Marquez gave it everything to try to snatch P1 from the Aprilia rider, but he fell 198 thousandths short of the best lap and will start second on the MotoGP grid. The front row is completed by Fermin Aldeguer’s BK8 Gresini Ducati.

Raul Fernandez and Aldeguer advanced from Q1 to Q2. Fabio Quartararo gave it his all on the Yamaha M1, but he could do no better than third in the session and will have to start from thirteenth on the MotoGP grid.

It went worse for Pecco Bagnaia who, after the first time attack, was never able to put together a good lap—there was always some issue that forced him to slow down. In several spots he lost the front of his Ducati and didn’t hide his frustration, pounding his fists on the tank. In FP2 he seemed to have made progress compared to Friday’s disastrous sessions, but in Qualifying he couldn’t manage a sufficiently fast lap: he will start fourteenth in both the sprint and the race.

Enea Bastianini was also disappointed; in his home GP he will start only sixteenth with his Tech3 KTM. Even Diogo Moreira, the rookie from the LCR Honda team, did better than the rider from Rimini. Last on the MotoGP grid is another rookie, Toprak Razgatlioglu, with the Prima Pramac Yamaha. The three-time Superbike World Champion conceded a hefty 1.7 seconds to Fernandez.

Front row Bezzecchi–Marquez–Aldeguer; the second row is headed by the VR46 Ducati ridden by Fabio Di Giannantonio, alongside Jorge Martin’s Aprilia and Luca Marini’s Honda. The latter was truly surprising on his RC213V; we’ll see if he can secure good results in the two MotoGP races at Misano this weekend.

Pedro Acosta will lead the third row, with the Ducatis of Franco Morbidelli (who must serve a penalty on Sunday) and Alex Marquez (who crashed twice in Q2) alongside him.