Marco Bezzecchi continued his Buriram dominance by securing pole position for the 2026 season-opening Thai Grand Prix, beating reigning champion Marc Marquez by a slender margin despite a heavy late fall in qualifying.
Bezzecchi’s benchmark 1m28.652s, set on his first Q2 run, proved untouchable.
Having led every session across the weekend, the Aprilia rider looked firmly in control before crashing under braking into the final corner in the closing minutes — a second fall of the day after an earlier incident in practice.
BEZ CRASHES 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) February 28, 2026
He's up and walking but that's his second fall of the day 👀#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 pic.twitter.com/GdfwjuSmSv
He appeared visibly shaken but avoided injury, explaining in parc ferme that “when the airbag went off, I had a lot of pain in my bum”.
Marquez initially sat outside the front-row fight after the first run but mounted a calculated counterattack against a provisional all-Aprilia top three.
The reigning World Champion produced a clean late lap to close within 0.035s, securing second and establishing himself as Bezzecchi’s primary threat heading into the sprint.
Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez translated a strong Q1 pace into a front-row start, even without matching his earlier benchmark.
Behind the front row, Fabio Di Giannantonio slotted into fourth after following Bezzecchi on his quickest attempt, edging Jorge Martin, who briefly looked capable of challenging for pole but settled for fifth.
Pedro Acosta completed the second row as the leading KTM, continuing a consistent Buriram weekend that has kept him within the lead group across all sessions.
The third row featured Alex Marquez, Ai Ogura, and Franco Morbidelli — Morbidelli progressing from Q1 despite a slow Turn 3 crash that briefly disrupted the session. Just behind, Joan Mir emerged as the top Honda runner in 10th.
BEZ CRASHES 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) February 28, 2026
He's up and walking but that's his second fall of the day 👀#ThaiGP 🇹🇭 pic.twitter.com/GdfwjuSmSv
Two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia endured a difficult qualifying and will start only 13th.
The Ducati rider never looked fully comfortable: a loose moment over the kerbs compromised his first push on fresh tyres, followed by mistakes at Turns 3 and 8 that forced him to abandon subsequent attempts.
Further back, Fabio Quartararo led Yamaha’s effort in 16th, with the new V4-powered M1 package falling short of Q2 contention throughout the session.
MotoGP debutant Toprak Razgatlioglu qualified 21st, though remained close to Yamaha stablemate Alex Rins as he continues his adaptation to the category.
