MotoGP 2025: Bagnaia denies Mir in epic battle for pole in Grand Prix of Japan

Motegi (Japan), Sep 27 (IANS) The trials and tribulations of Barcelona and Misano now seem like distant memories for Francesco Bagnaia as the double MotoGP World Champion snatched pole position in the Grand Prix of Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi race course, continuing a weekend that has seen him back to his best.

Joan Mir of Honda HRC Castrol put in a stunner of a round to run the #63 rider from Ducati Lenovo Team close in the battle for pole too, right in contention, but forced to settle for second. Still, that equals his best-ever qualifying round in MotoGP. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team), meanwhile, completes the front row at Motegi as he faces down Championship points on Sunday.

Late drama

Q1 was full of big names: Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), home-hero Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), and reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) all aiming to graduate to Q2. Ogura and Morbidelli were the two provisionally going through with five minutes to go, with Alex Marquez only third.

Going into P2, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed at Turn 5 and paid the price as teammate Alex Marquez moved into the top two to nab that spot. Morbidelli hauled himself back into P1 ahead of an impressive charge from Ogura, before Alex Marquez had the final say, taking P2 before more yellow flags came out. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a fast one at Turn 12, and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) went down at Turn 10, halting Ogura and Martin’s Q2 charge, leaving them 13th and 17th respectively, as Morbidelli and Alex Marquez headed to the pole battle.

Pecco the favourite, Acosta with problems

As Q2 got underway, there was instant drama for Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who pulled back into the pits after his out-lap with a technical issue. As everyone’s first runs were coming to a close, they all chased Pecco, who, having been fastest on Friday, was leading teammate Marquez and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). With the final run on the horizon, though, there was plenty of time for surprises.

In the last burst of track action, a flurry of red sectors and fast lap times. Morbidelli was the first to take provisional pole before Marc Marquez snatched it away, but the surprise was Mir, who rocketed up to P1. But a career first MotoGP pole for the #36 was just usurped with less than 30 seconds on the clock as Bagnaia completed his flying lap and snatched top spot.

Pecco perfect after Mir’s mighty challenge

At the chequered flag, it was the first pole for Pecco since Brno and just his second of the 2025 season, ahead of Mir, who equals his career-best grid slot of P2 and his best-ever for Honda. It's the factory team’s first front row since 2023 and equals Honda's best from this year, P2 in Germany with Johann Zarco (Honda LCR). Marc Marquez's title chances on Sunday remain intact, however, as he took P3 and rounded out the front row, just 0.132s behind his pole-sitting teammate.

Morbidelli completed the second row, having been in the pole battle throughout, just 0.259s away from Bagnaia, whilst Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) made it two Hondas in the top seven. Alex Marquez was only able to come up with P8, meaning he has work to do if he’s to stop his brother’s title celebrations this weekend. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) clinched ninth ahead of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).

--IANS

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