MotoGP British GP: Fabio Quartararo’s third straight pole breaks Silverstone track record

Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo took his third straight pole position in MotoGP on Saturday, breaking the Silverstone track record in the process.

The Frenchman once again saved his best effort for the very end of the British GP qualifying session, just as he had at the previous two races at Jerez and Le Mans.

While championship leader Marc Marquez was the man Quartararo had to defeat in Spain and France, the six-time MotoGP champion could not even manage the front row in the United Kingdom.

Marquez led the way by some margin at the mid-session lull, as has become customary. But he was unable to improve on his final run and ended up only fourth-fastest. That means the Spaniard misses the front row for the first time in 2025.

Joining Quartararo up front instead will be Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Marc Marquez’s factory Ducati team-mate, Francesco Bagnaia.

While Alex Marquez could celebrate a positive outcome in the light of a heavy high-side in the preceding Practice session, Bagnaia was able to revel in beating Marc Marquez in qualifying for the first time this season.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) and Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) complete the second row alongside Marc Marquez.

Next up on the grid will be the VR46 Ducati of Fabio di Giannantonio, the factory Honda of Luca Marini and the LCR Honda of French GP winner Johann Zarco. The latter crashed out of a promising lap at the end of the session.

Franco Morbidelli was 10th-fastest in Q2, but will only start from there in this afternoon’s sprint. The three-place grand prix grid penalty the VR46 rider picked up on Friday will apply on Sunday.

The fourth row for the British Grand Prix on Sunday will thus consist of Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Alex Rins (Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Honda).

Earlier, Marini and Morbidelli were the two riders to progress from a busy Q1 session that was particularly disappointing for KTM.

Mir threatened to pass both of them by setting the quickest times in the first and second sectors on his final lap of the session, which came after his rivals had finished. But the second factory Honda’s challenge faded in the final two sectors and he remained third-fastest in the session.

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KTM’s hopes of bouncing back from a disappointing Friday were shattered in Q1, with its leading riders Maverick Vinales (Tech3) suffering a technical failure and Pedro Acosta running off the road at Stowe aboard the factory bike.

Acosta will start 14th behind Morbidelli on Sunday, with Vinales four spots further back. Enea Bastianini (Tech 3) and Brad Binder on the second factory bike will start 17th and 19th respectively to underline a horror afternoon for the quartet.

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	7	1'57.233		180.901	324
2	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	7	+0.309 1'57.542	0.309	180.425	330
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	7	+0.589 1'57.822	0.280	179.996	334
4	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	7	+0.681 1'57.914	0.092	179.856	335
5	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54	Ducati	7	+0.840 1'58.073	0.159	179.614	328
6	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	6	+0.872 1'58.105	0.032	179.565	331
7	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	7	+0.893 1'58.126	0.021	179.533	330
8	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	6	+0.902 1'58.135	0.009	179.520	331
9	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	6	+0.907 1'58.140	0.005	179.512	327
10	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	7	+0.992 1'58.225	0.085	179.383	333
11	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	7	+1.110 1'58.343	0.118	179.204	334
12	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	6	+1.224 1'58.457	0.114	179.032	330
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