MotoGP Spanish GP: Marc Marquez beats Johann Zarco to pole at wet Jerez

Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda

Zarco excelled in this rare chance to fight in the higher reaches of the MotoGP field, putting in an impressive 1m48.625s lap with four minutes remaining in the session. That vaulted him to the top of the timesheets - and only Marc Marquez would be able to respond to that time.

Marc's penultimate lap, a 1m48.087s, earned him pole position aboard the factory Ducati, although Zarco did threaten with a last-ditch attempt. The Frenchman lowered his time to 1m48.227s, and may even have reclaimed pole were it not for an error at the last corner.

The gap behind the first pair was considerable - in fact, Zarco's second-quickest lap would also have been enough for second on the grid. Di Giannantonio, in third, was a vast 0.870s away from second spot.

Bezzecchi will share the second row with 2025 Spanish GP winner Alex Marquez, who did well to salvage fifth after a crash early in the session, and Acosta.

Jorge Martin was seventh-fastest on the factory Aprilia, but faces a three-spot grid penalty for Sunday. This promotes KTM's Enea Bastianini, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) to the third row.

Martin will lead row four, ahead of Trackhouse's Ai Ogura and Fermin Aldeguer, who crashed in both Free Practice 2 and Q1.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pramac Racing

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pramac Racing

Diogo Moreira, Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller will line up at the very back of the grid after failing to set times in Q1. All three fell at various stages of the session - with Morbidelli suffering a smoking engine into the bargain.

The crash was particularly costly for Miller, who often excels in the damp and might have seen the session as a rare chance to make it into Q2. His fall at Lorenzo corner came shortly after he witnessed his team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu pull off a masterful save at the same corner late in Free Practice 2.

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