By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 21 minutes ago, Updated now
Marc Marquez returns to the top of the MotoGP grid. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP
The Spaniard took his first pole position with the Ducati-Gresini team and the 65th of his career.
Spaniard Marc Marquez will start in pole position for the sprint race and then the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth round of the MotoGP season, after setting the best time during qualifying on Saturday at the Jérez de la Frontera track.
On a drying track after the showers that fell earlier in the morning, the six-time MotoGP world champion took the 65th pole of his career in the premier category in the Andalusian cool – the first with Ducati-Gresini, which he joined at the start. year after turning the page on ten years of history with Honda.
“It’s been a long time!” savored the No.93 on the grid, who has not started at the head of a GP since March 2023, in Portugal. He now hopes “finish on the podium”. This season, the 31-year-old Catalan star has two podiums, only in sprint races (in Portugal and the United States).
Marquez will start on the front row ahead of Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati-VR46) and the championship leader, his fellow Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), on the starting grid for the sprint race at 1:00 p.m. GMT on Saturday, and Sunday on that of the GP (12:00 GMT) – where dry weather is expected.
The reigning double world champion, the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), will start from the 3rd row, in 7th position, ahead of the Spanish prodigy Pedro Acosta (GasGas-Tech3), only 10th after falling during a quick turn.
The strong driver of the moment, Maverick Vinales, will only start 11th. Riding his Aprilia, the Spaniard remained flawless during the last round, in the United States, where he won the sprint and the GP.
