ALEX MARQUEZ secured his first pole position of the 2025 MotoGP season during qualifying for the Catalunya Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Spaniard shattered the lap record with a blistering time of 1 minute 37.536 seconds aboard his BK8 Gresini Ducati.
He narrowly edged out Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo to claim the top spot on the starting grid.
His brother Marc Marquez, the six-time world champion and current championship leader, qualified in third position.
The siblings are locked in a title battle, though Marc holds a commanding 175-point advantage over his younger brother.
Marc secured his lead with a seventh consecutive victory at the Hungarian MotoGP two weeks prior.
“Alex is the fastest, I’ll try to stay close to him. I have a better chance in the long race,” Marc Marquez said ahead of Saturday’s sprint race.
Alex Marquez expressed confidence following his perfect weekend performance so far.
“The weekend is going perfectly… I’m confident it can be a great Sprint for us,” he remarked.
Despite a strong practice session on Friday, KTM’s Brad Binder could only manage an 11th place qualifying result.
Defending champion Francesco Bagnaia continued to struggle and will start from 21st on the grid.
This marks Bagnaia’s worst qualifying performance since starting last at the 2022 Portuguese Grand Prix. – AFP
