Ducatis Marquez breaks lap record twice to clinch Hungarian GP pole

Sign up now: Get STs newsletters delivered to your inbox

FILE PHOTO: MotoGP - Spanish Grand Prix - Circuito de Jerez, Jerez, Spain - April 27, 2025 Ducati Lenovo Teams Marc Marquez before the race REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Ducatis Marc Marquez smashed the Balaton Park Circuit lap record twice on Saturday to claim pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix as his teammate Francesco Bagnaia endured his worst qualifying session of the season.

Marquez, who leads the championship, will be joined on the front row by Aprilias Marco Bezzecchi and VR46 Racings Fabio Di Giannantonio, both of whom had to battle through the Q1 session to reach the pole shootout.

Its a surprise (to see them on the front row) and at the same time, no, because we cannot forget that were in a new circuit, Marquez said.

Every time you put new tyres, you find new limits. So they were coming Q1 and the fact that they already did two timed attacks, they had another reference.

So they were super fast, but we did our job. So happy to start on the front row and especially in pole position.

The session provided plenty of drama, with KTMs Pedro Acosta -- fastest in Friday practice -- crashing early and destroying his bike.

Acosta sprinted to the barrier and commandeered one of the bikes used to ferry riders back to the paddock. Although he was able to put in one more lap, he could only manage seventh fastest with his reserve bike.

Marquez responded to his rivals closing in on