Marc Márquez on pole ahead of Johann Zarco at Jerez: "We were on another planet"

245 days after his last pole position, Marc Márquez is back on top. He snatched first place after a thrilling battle with Johann Zarco, the only rider able to challenge the nine-time world champion on the still-damp but drying track of the Jerez Angel Nieto circuit.

While Johann Zarco had initially secured provisional pole position on his Honda, number 93 regained the advantage with one minute remaining. The Frenchman, pushing to the limit in a final sprint, seemed poised to respond before a slight slide in the last corner dashed his hopes, definitively handing pole to Márquez.

« We were both living on another planet, he exclaimed into the Canal+ microphone. We were really going very fast at the end. I was watching his last lap, and I'd already finished. I was looking at the screens and I really thought he was going to do it. I thought to myself, 'He's going to beat me.' Then I saw that he'd made a mistake in the last few corners. I'd made a similar mistake, but his was a bit bigger. So I got away with it! »

With a lap time of 1:48.087, Marc Márquez thus records the 75th^e pole position of his career in MotoGP, his first since the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished ahead of a heroic Johann Zarco and Fabio Di Giannantonio, the most recent poleman.

This is also Marc Márquez's third pole position at Jerez, where he will be aiming for a second Sprint victory this season to try and equal Jorge Martín's record of 17 wins in the discipline. But the task looks difficult. In dry conditions, Álex Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Marco Bezzecchi are quite fast, so we'll try to ride as well as possible and maintain good speed. There's likely to be a battle at the front. "Under the threat of a storm, the Sprint promises to be thrilling nonetheless."

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