Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo delivered a masterclass under pressure at Phillip Island, taking a stunning fifth pole position of the 2025 season and his 21st in MotoGP with a record-breaking 1m26.465s lap. The Frenchman’s late charge denied Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi by just 0.031s.
For Quartararo, it marked Yamaha’s first pole at Phillip Island since 2020 and its best overall Saturday in four years.
It also ended Ducati’s 98-race front-row streak, a record that had stood unbroken since the 2020 season.
Bezzecchi, who had looked untouchable in single-lap pace all weekend, was left frustrated after a session that turned chaotic almost immediately.
Bezzecchi’s first Q2 run was compromised when he encountered yellow flags through Turn 10, forcing him to abort.
On his next attempt, he came up behind Francesco Bagnaia on the approach to Turn 4, overtook him into the corner, and ran wide after missing the apex – only to find Luca Marini also in the way on corner exit.
Bez getting frustrated with @PeccoBagnaia there is an understatement! 💢😱#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/GMEq00uNZr
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 18, 2025
The stewards quickly launched an investigation, eventually penalizing Bagnaia three grid positions for impeding his fellow VR46 Academy colleague.
Despite the disruption, Bezzecchi’s second run was strong. He went straight to provisional pole and improved again on his next attempt, though his best time remained 0.004s off his own Friday benchmark.
It looked sufficient for pole, but Quartararo’s final lap snatched it away in the dying seconds of Q2.
Jack Miller thrilled the Australian fans by completing the front row. The Pramac Yamaha rider briefly held provisional pole after his first run and ultimately secured third with a late improvement, giving Pramac its first front-row since switching manufacturers earlier this season.
Miller’s performance marked his first home front-row start in two years, a result that drew loud approval from the Phillip Island crowd. “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!”
Just behind, Raul Fernandez delivered another strong showing for Trackhouse Aprilia in fourth, narrowly missing the front row by less than a tenth.
Pedro Acosta led the KTM effort in fifth, having briefly jumped to second before being pushed down in the final moments.
In sixth came Alex Marquez, whose session was anything but straightforward. The Gresini rider crashed twice – once at Turn 10 in a minor tip-off and later at Turn 1 in a high-speed spill.
A nightmare Q2 for @alexmarquez73 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 18, 2025
That's crash number two of the session for the Spaniard! #AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/jQnJxrkiiE
His team-mate, rookie Fermin Aldeguer, followed in seventh, the rookie’s 1m26.995s lap identical to that of Pol Espargaro.
Luca Marini salvaged ninth for Honda after an engine failure in pre-qualifying forced the team to change power units. He led Honda’s only Q2 appearance, while Fabio Di Giannantonio closed the top ten after an under-the-radar session for VR46 Ducati.
Behind them, Bagnaia’s disrupted run left him only 11th, followed by Alex Rins in 12th. Both were visibly frustrated after losing clean laps due to traffic.
Q1 saw Brad Binder narrowly miss advancement despite being just 0.038s slower than Aldeguer and 0.029s behind Miller, who topped the session.
Binder’s day worsened when stewards handed him two separate investigations. The first related to Lorenzo Savadori’s crash at Siberia, where Savadori appeared to brake suddenly to avoid the slower KTM.
The second came from Johann Zarco, who abandoned a promising lap and later accused Binder of unnecessary blocking. The stewards agreed, issuing Binder a three-place grid penalty.
A rough morning for @JohannZarco1 💢#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/xuUGDPjziB
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 18, 2025
Zarco’s session had already been compromised when he crashed in pre-qualifying practice. He attempted to restart his damaged primary bike and push it back to the pits before giving up, losing valuable time.
Despite that, his pace in Q1 was competitive, but he ultimately missed out and will line up 15th, right behind Joan Mir.
The time gaps in Q1 were razor-thin – less than 0.09s separated fifth from first, while the gap from Zarco to sixth-placed Miguel Oliveira was larger than the entire top-five spread.
Further back, Franco Morbidelli endured his worst qualifying of the season, only 17th for VR46 Ducati, his pace dropping sharply after strong early practice sessions.
Enea Bastianini continued to struggle on the Tech3 KTM, finishing 20th and reporting grip issues on corner exit.
