{"id":1050,"date":"2026-10-23T21:55:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T00:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2026-10-23T22:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T01:05:20","slug":"marquez-overcomes-crash-to-snatch-pole-in-wet-phillip-island-qualifying-as-martin-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/motogp\/marquez-overcomes-crash-to-snatch-pole-in-wet-phillip-island-qualifying-as-martin-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e1rquez overcomes crash to snatch pole in wet Phillip Island qualifying as Mart\u00edn struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Marc M\u00e1rquez claimed pole position at Phillip Island<\/strong> after recovering from a crash during a rain-affected qualifying session.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marco Bezzecchi qualified second for Aprilia, with Pedro Acosta completing the front row for KTM.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Championship leader Jorge Mart\u00edn qualified seventh<\/strong>, leaving him behind M\u00e1rquez and Bezzecchi for both the sprint and Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Marc M\u00e1rquez secured pole position for the 2026 Australian MotoGP Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Saturday, recovering from a crash to defeat Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta in a wet qualifying session.<\/strong> The Ducati rider took advantage of difficult conditions to strengthen his position in the championship battle against Jorge Mart\u00edn, who qualified seventh on the factory Aprilia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heavy rain transformed the circuit after Friday&#8217;s dry running, forcing the riders to adapt to substantially different levels of grip. M\u00e1rquez immediately demonstrated his pace in the conditions, dominating the final free practice session before qualifying began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spaniard carried that performance into Q2, setting the early pace and responding when his rivals attempted to challenge him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bezzecchi secured second place on the Aprilia, while Acosta completed the front row for KTM. Fabio Di Giannantonio qualified fourth, ahead of \u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez and home favourite Jack Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mart\u00edn ended the session seventh, followed by Brad Binder and Francesco Bagnaia among the leading riders in the closing stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">M\u00e1rquez recovers from crash to secure Phillip Island pole<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday&#8217;s conditions were markedly different from those encountered during the opening day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">M\u00e1rquez had led FP1 on Friday with a 1:27.985 before Bezzecchi established the fastest time in the afternoon&#8217;s decisive Practice session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, rain arrived at Phillip Island overnight, leaving the track wet for Saturday&#8217;s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ducati rider immediately adapted, producing a 1:37.112 during FP2 to finish 0.823s ahead of Acosta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mart\u00edn was third, more than a second behind, with Bezzecchi fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those results established M\u00e1rquez as one of the strongest contenders for pole position despite the Aprilias having dominated Friday&#8217;s dry conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During Q2, the Ducati rider recovered from a fall and returned to the fight for the fastest lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">M\u00e1rquez regained the lead with a 1:38.676 during the session, establishing a substantial advantage over his nearest rivals at that stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bezzecchi subsequently improved, reducing the gap, but the Italian could not prevent M\u00e1rquez from securing pole position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result gives the Spaniard the best starting position for Saturday&#8217;s sprint and Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1020318822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/HVW1yYXXYAEkfqz.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marc M\u00e1rquez (Photo: Michelin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bezzecchi keeps Aprilia on front row as Acosta impresses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bezzecchi maintained his strong form by securing second place, continuing a competitive Australian Grand Prix weekend for Aprilia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian arrived at Phillip Island after winning the Indonesian Grand Prix and reducing his deficit to the championship leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He led Friday Practice with a 1:26.775, defeating Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez by 0.072s, while Aprilia placed four motorcycles inside the top five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The arrival of rain changed the competitive order, particularly as M\u00e1rquez demonstrated stronger pace during Saturday&#8217;s wet running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bezzecchi nevertheless secured a front-row position and will start ahead of his championship-leading teammate Mart\u00edn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acosta was another standout performer, taking third place for KTM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spaniard had finished second during FP2 and maintained that competitiveness in qualifying, securing a place alongside M\u00e1rquez and Bezzecchi on the front row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Di Giannantonio qualified fourth for VR46 Ducati, while \u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez completed the top five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller secured sixth for Pramac Yamaha, giving the Australian a second-row start at his final scheduled MotoGP weekend at Phillip Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mart\u00edn faces recovery from seventh as MotoGP title fight intensifies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mart\u00edn enters the Australian Grand Prix holding a two-point advantage over Marc M\u00e1rquez in the Riders&#8217; Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Aprilia rider finished seventh in FP1 and fifth during Friday Practice, securing direct entry into Q2 but struggling to match the fastest laps produced by his principal rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He acknowledged after Friday&#8217;s running that he was still adapting to the circuit and needed to improve his speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was a positive day. I didn&#8217;t race here last year, so this morning I was pushing the front tyre hard,\u201d Mart\u00edn explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spaniard reported that his confidence improved as the opening day progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI&#8217;m still missing a bit of speed, but my pace is consistent, and towards the end of the day I was getting quicker and quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saturday&#8217;s wet conditions presented a different challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Mart\u00edn remained competitive during FP2, finishing third, he was unable to reproduce that position in qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His seventh-place result places him on the third row, behind both M\u00e1rquez and Bezzecchi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The starting position could become particularly important during the 13-lap sprint, where the shorter distance leaves less time to recover lost positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">M\u00e1rquez has an opportunity to overturn the two-point championship deficit before Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix, depending on their respective sprint results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Miller secures second row as Bagnaia struggles with Ducati<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller also benefited from the changing conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian had finished third in FP1 before dropping to 12th during Practice, forcing him to take part in Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pramac rider recovered to reach Q2 and secured sixth place, earning a second-row start at his final MotoGP weekend at Phillip Island before the Australian Grand Prix moves to Adelaide in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bagnaia also faced a difficult route through qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The factory Ducati rider had finished only 14th during Friday Practice, almost a second behind Bezzecchi, and was required to compete in Q1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian encountered technical difficulties during Saturday&#8217;s running but continued his participation in qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His performance remained below that of teammate M\u00e1rquez, who secured pole position despite his own incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contrast continues a difficult Australian weekend for Bagnaia, who had struggled to find competitive pace in both Friday sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Australian MotoGP 2026 \u2014 Full qualifying results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th>Pos.<\/th><th>Rider<\/th><th>Team<\/th><th>Time<\/th><th>Gap<\/th><\/tr><tr><td>1<\/td><td>M. M\u00c1RQUEZ<\/td><td>Ducati<\/td><td>1:34.203<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2<\/td><td>\u00c1. M\u00c1RQUEZ<\/td><td>Gresini Ducati<\/td><td>1:35.697<\/td><td>+1.494<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3<\/td><td>J. ZARCO<\/td><td>LCR Honda<\/td><td>1:35.706<\/td><td>+1.503<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4<\/td><td>J. MART\u00cdN<\/td><td>Aprilia<\/td><td>1:35.780<\/td><td>+1.577<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5<\/td><td>J. MILLER<\/td><td>Pramac Yamaha<\/td><td>1:35.984<\/td><td>+1.781<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6<\/td><td>R. FERN\u00c1NDEZ<\/td><td>Trackhouse Aprilia<\/td><td>1:36.150<\/td><td>+1.947<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7<\/td><td>P. ACOSTA<\/td><td>KTM<\/td><td>1:36.500<\/td><td>+2.297<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>8<\/td><td>F. DI GIANNANTONIO<\/td><td>VR46 Ducati<\/td><td>1:36.506<\/td><td>+2.303<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>9<\/td><td>M. BEZZECCHI<\/td><td>Aprilia<\/td><td>1:36.520<\/td><td>+2.317<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>10<\/td><td>D. MOREIRA<\/td><td>LCR Honda<\/td><td>1:37.884<\/td><td>+3.681<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>11<\/td><td>E. BASTIANINI<\/td><td>Tech3 KTM<\/td><td>1:38.647<\/td><td>+4.444<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>12<\/td><td>A. OGURA<\/td><td>Trackhouse Aprilia<\/td><td>1:39.389<\/td><td>+5.186<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>13<\/td><td>B. BINDER<\/td><td>KTM<\/td><td>1:35.996<\/td><td>+1.793<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>14<\/td><td>I. LECUONA<\/td><td>Gresini Ducati<\/td><td>1:36.296<\/td><td>+2.093<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>15<\/td><td>M. VI\u00d1ALES<\/td><td>Tech3 KTM<\/td><td>1:36.687<\/td><td>+2.484<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>16<\/td><td>F. BAGNAIA<\/td><td>Ducati<\/td><td>1:36.759<\/td><td>+2.556<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>17<\/td><td>A. FERN\u00c1NDEZ<\/td><td>Pramac Yamaha<\/td><td>1:36.778<\/td><td>+2.575<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>18<\/td><td>\u00c1. RINS<\/td><td>Yamaha<\/td><td>1:36.911<\/td><td>+2.708<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>19<\/td><td>F. QUARTARARO<\/td><td>Yamaha<\/td><td>1:37.240<\/td><td>+3.037<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>20<\/td><td>F. MORBIDELLI<\/td><td>VR46 Ducati<\/td><td>1:37.904<\/td><td>+3.701<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the Australian MotoGP sprint?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian MotoGP sprint takes place later on Saturday, October 24, at 15:00 local time in Phillip Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 13-lap race awards championship points to the first nine finishers and will provide the first opportunity for Mart\u00edn and M\u00e1rquez to change their positions in the title standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><th>Country \/ City<\/th><th>Sprint start<\/th><\/tr><tr><td>Australia \u2014 Melbourne (AEDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 15:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>New Zealand \u2014 Auckland (NZDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 17:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United Kingdom (BST)<\/td><td>Saturday, 05:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States \u2014 New York (EDT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 00:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>United States \u2014 Los Angeles (PDT)<\/td><td>Friday, 21:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>India (IST)<\/td><td>Saturday, 09:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Brazil (BRT)<\/td><td>Saturday, 01:00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main Australian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, October 25, with Phillip Island hosting its final scheduled MotoGP round before the championship moves to Adelaide in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/motogp-australian-gp-2026-phillip-island-schedule-and-start-times\/\">complete Australian MotoGP schedule and international start times<\/a> provide information about the remaining sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> is following every session of the Australian MotoGP Grand Prix at Phillip Island this weekend, with breaking news, full coverage and real-time updates in its <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/motogp\/\">MotoGP section<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marc M\u00e1rquez recovered from a crash to secure pole position for the Australian MotoGP Grand Prix in wet conditions at Phillip Island. The Ducati rider beat Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta, while championship leader Jorge Mart\u00edn qualified seventh as the title rivals prepared for the circuit&#8217;s final MotoGP sprint and Grand Prix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020318765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Marc M\u00e1rquez","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Ducati","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_ai_content_disclaimer":"","42wp_is_ai_content":false,"42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":19,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_hide_from_automatic":false,"42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[193,86,80,242],"42wp_author":[19],"class_list":["post-1050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motogp","tag-australian-gp","tag-marc-marquez","tag-marco-bezzecchi","tag-phillip-island","42wp_author-kaio-esteves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020318765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}