Bagnaia Snatches First Pole of the Year as Marquez Crashes Chasing It

Francesco Bagnaia claimed a dramatic pole position at Brno – the first of his 2025 season – in a qualifying session that saw several late-session crashes.

Bagnaia had to come through Q1 after a shaky start to the weekend, but once in Q2, he made a bold call to run alone for his second time attack.

It paid off. His 1:52.303 lap came just as yellow flags began to affect the session, securing him top spot in a session that turned quite frantic in the final minutes.

Marc Marquez was en route to claim back-to-back pole positions when disaster struck for the championship leader.

Seeing Johann Zarco go down right in front of him, the Spaniard “got a little distracted” and followed the LCR Honda rider into ths gravel trap.

HIGH DRAMA! @marcmarquez93 goes down while on course for pole 😱💥#CzechGP 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/PpgBZFuRYe
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 19, 2025

Fabio Quartararo, the only rider to stay out of the initial Q2 traffic jam, and going solo on his first run in qualifying secured third.

“I did a 1:52.6 again. I don’t know how, but I did it. Happy to be on the front row again.”

Marco Bezzecchi briefly held a position in the top three before a crash at Turn 1 halted his charge.

He ended the session fourth, ahead of Joan Mir, who quietly delivered his best qualifying of the year.

It all went wrong for Bez at T1 💥#CzechGP 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/jkROb8TE1S
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 19, 2025

Raul Fernandez continued Trackhouse’s rise with sixth place, just ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.

Alex Marquez had been in the mix for a front row early on but got caught up in the tow games and ended eighth.

Zarco managed ninth despite his crash, and Jack Miller rounded out the top 10. The Aussie missed out on a final time attack after going down in the closing stages of the session.