Fabio di Giannantonio took the first Brazilian MotoGP pole position since 2004 after a crash-interrupted qualifying session at Goiania, holding on despite falling during the closing stages of Q2.
The VR46 rider secured only his second MotoGP pole with a 1:17.410, edging Thai Grand Prix winner Marco Bezzecchi by 0.070s. Marc Marquez completed the front row, recovering from one of several crashes in a hectic session.
Both di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi had already been pushed to their limits in Qualifying 1, advancing from a tightly packed field before resuming their fight at the front in Q2. Bezzecchi, who had been slightly quicker earlier in Q1, came up just short in the pole shootout.
Fabio Quartararo delivered a strong late improvement to secure fourth on Yamaha’s all-new V4 machine, leading the second row ahead of Aprilia duo Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura.
The session quickly spiralled into a crash fest. Francesco Bagnaia was the first to go down in Q2, his factory Ducati left heavily damaged after an early fall coming out of Turn 9.
WOAH 🤯@peccobagnaia goes down in a big way! 💥#BrazilianGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/Egh41kJAq9
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 21, 2026
Moments later, Pedro Acosta slid off at Turn 4 and was seen sprinting through the gravel, before Marc Marquez crashed a lap later at the same corner – a clear trouble spot throughout qualifying.
All three returned on their second bikes for the final runs, but the incidents continued. Jorge Martin crashed while on a lap that would have put him onto pole, and polesitter di Giannantonio himself went down shortly after – though his earlier benchmark remained untouched.
Further down the order, Fermin Aldeguer and Alex Marquez placed the Gresini Ducatis seventh and eighth, while Acosta salvaged ninth despite his early fall. Johann Zarco rounded out the top ten.
Bagnaia could do no better than 11th after his disrupted session, with Toprak Razgatlioglu completing the fourth row.
Rookie Diogo Moreira will start his home race from 14th, just behind Joan Mir, after briefly leading Q1 thanks to a tow-assisted lap. Franco Morbidelli and Raul Fernandez followed.
Bezzecchi, Luca Marini and Morbidelli were all limited to a single bike after crashes in final practice, adding further pressure to their qualifying efforts. Marini’s difficult run continued with another fall in Q1, where Jack Miller also crashed.
KTM endured a particularly tough session, with Maverick Vinales, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini set to start from the last three positions of the grid.
