Quartararo seals pole hat-trick, Bagnaia pushes Marc Marquez to row two

Fabio Quartararo took his third straight pole position in MotoGP on Saturday, breaking the Silverstone track record in the process at the British Grand Prix.

The Yamaha rider once again saved his best effort for the very end of the session, just as he had at the previous two races at Jerez and Le Mans.

While championship leader Marc Marquez was the man Quartararo had to defeat in Spain and France, the six-time MotoGP champion could not even manage the front row in the United Kingdom.

Marquez led the way by some margin at the mid-session lull, as has become customary, but he was unable to improve on the final run and ended up only fourth. That means the Spaniard misses the front row for the first time in 2025.

Joining Quartararo on the front rank instead will be Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Marquez’s factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia.

While Alex Marquez could celebrate a positive outcome in the light of a heavy high-side in the preceding practice session, Bagnaia was able to revel in beating Marc in qualifying for the first time this season.

Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) and Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) complete the second row alongside Marc Marquez.

Next up on the grid will be the VR46 Ducati of Fabio di Giannantonio, the factory Honda of Luca Marini and the LCR Honda of French GP winner Johann Zarco. The latter crashed out of a promising lap at the end of the session.

Franco Morbidelli was 10th-fastest in Q2, but will only start from there in this afternoon’s sprint. The three-place grand prix grid penalty the VR46 rider picked up on Friday will apply on Sunday.

The fourth row for the British GP on Sunday will thus consist of Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Honda).

Earlier, Marini and Morbidelli were the two riders to progress from a busy Q1 session that was particularly disappointing for KTM.

Mir threatened to pass both of them by setting the quickest times in the first and second sectors on his final lap of the session, which came after his rivals had finished. But the second factory Honda’s challenge faded in the final two sectors and he remained third-fastest in the session.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

KTM’s hopes of bouncing back from a disappointing Friday were shattered in Q1, with its leading riders Maverick Vinales (Tech3) suffering a technical failure and Pedro Acosta running off the road at Stowe aboard the factory bike.

Acosta will start 14th behind Morbidelli in Sunday, with Vinales four spots further back. Enea Bastianini (Tech 3) and Brad Binder on the second factory bike will start 17th and 19th respectively.

MotoGP British GP – Qualifying results

Q2

Q1