Francesco Bagnaia struck back at Motegi to claim his 26th career pole, beating Honda’s Joan Mir and teammate Marc Marquez in a tense Q2.
The Ducati rider became the first man into the 1’42s with a 1m42.911s, sealing a comeback pole by just 0.092s from Mir.
The Spaniard delivered his best qualifying since 2022, placing his factory Honda on the front row for the first time in 2025.
Marc Marquez looked in contention after briefly holding provisional pole with a 1m43.043s, but had to settle for third in the final stages as his teammate found another tenth on his final run.
Pedro Acosta, having endured a chaotic session, will open the second row. The KTM rider suffered a technical issue at the start of Q2, his RC16 forcing back into the pits before he could complete a lap on his first run.
A serious pole contender might be out of it ❌
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 27, 2025
Technical issues for @37_pedroacosta at the start of Q2 ⚠️#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/K8qabep17f
Forced to sit out most of the session, Acosta only rejoined in the closing minutes. Under pressure, he salvaged fourth with a 1m43.069s, just 0.026s shy of Marquez.
Fabio Quartararo carried Yamaha onto the second row in fifth, followed by Franco Morbidelli in sixth. Luca Marini gave Honda further encouragement in seventh.
Having fought his way through Q1, Alex Marquez will start eighth on the grid in his attempt to deny his brother Marc the title.
Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez completed the top ten, while Johann Zarco and Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out the Q2 order.
That's how hard @BradBinder_33 tried to save it 💪😱#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/OOmhsY7gHK
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 27, 2025
Q1 had seen Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez progress after a dramatic session. Brad Binder crashed heavily at Turn 12 while Alex Rins went down at Turn 10, yellow flags ending Ai Ogura’s final lap and hopes of a Q2 appearance at his home GP prematurely.
