MotoGP News: Marc Marquez beats Zarco to pole at wet Jerez

In classic Jerez fashion, the weather turned the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying into a lottery — and Marc Márquez rolled the dice perfectly.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

With light rain leaving the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto damp and slippery for Q2, the eight-time world champion delivered a masterclass in wet-weather riding. Márquez fired in a 1m48.087s lap to snatch pole position for Ducati Lenovo, his first pole of the season and a statement lap in front of his home crowd.

Just 0.140 seconds behind in a huge shock result was Johann Zarco on the Castrol Honda LCR machine. The Frenchman, often Honda’s strongest performer in mixed conditions, produced one of the rides of the year to put the RC213V on the front row for the first time in recent memory.

The gaps behind told the story of how treacherous the track was:

– Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati) slotted into third, but already +1.010s off pole.
– Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was fourth.
– Alex Márquez (BK8 Gresini Ducati), who had dominated dry Friday practice, could only manage fifth (+1.059s).
– Home hero Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) lined up sixth, while championship leader Jorge Martín (Aprilia) was seventh.

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) struggled in the tricky grip and ended up 10th, over 2.9 seconds off his teammate’s pace.

Times were dramatically slower than Friday’s dry 1:35s laps, confirming the session was run almost entirely on wet-weather tires in damp, low-grip conditions. Several riders were caught out early, forcing last-minute tire calls and conservative laps until the final minutes.

For Márquez, it was a much-needed boost after a patchy start to 2026. The Spaniard has been open about still recovering full fitness and bike setup, but in these conditions he looked every bit the old “”alien”—smooth, precise, and unbeatable when it mattered most.

Zarco’s P2 result is the headline for Honda, giving the factory a rare front-row start and huge momentum heading into this afternoon’s Tissot Sprint.

The Sprint race is set for 15:00 local time. With more rain possible later in the weekend, today’s qualifying order could prove decisive, and Márquez has already put himself in the perfect position to strike.

The FIM MotoGP Stewards have given Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish GP. The penalty is for “riding slow online – disturbing another rider #73 at Turns 3–4”, as Martin was ahead of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in the final few minutes of MotoGP Practice.

Martin will serve the penalty on Sunday in the Grand Prix race, but will start the Tissot Sprint from his qualifying position – with that yet to be decided in Q2, a session which will feature the #89 after his P9 finish on Friday afternoon.

Jerez Qualifying Results

Quick note: Marc Márquez takes pole position. Times are significantly slower than dry practice sessions — Q2 was run in damp/wet conditions.