Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez recovered from an early crash to claim pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix after a dramatic qualifying session at Balaton Park on Saturday.
The Ducati Lenovo Team rider suffered a lowside crash at Turn 1 during the opening stages of Q2 but returned to post the fastest lap of the session. Marquez clocked 1:36.785 to deny Pedro Acosta a maiden MotoGP pole position by just 0.053 seconds.
Acosta, riding for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, led much of the session and appeared on course to secure the top starting position after repeatedly improving his benchmark time. However, Marquez responded in the closing stages with a rapid lap that edged him ahead by a narrow margin.
The Spaniard then improved his own time by a further 0.006 seconds on his final run to ensure he would start from pole position for Sunday’s race.
© x.com/MotoGPFermin Aldeguer completed the front row in third place for BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, although his best effort was more than three-tenths slower than Marquez’s pole-winning lap.
The session featured several incidents. Shortly after Marquez crashed at Turn 1, Fabio Di Giannantonio of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team suffered a similar fall at almost the same section of the circuit. Both riders were able to continue and remained competitive throughout the remainder of qualifying.
Earlier in Q1, Francesco Bagnaia produced a late improvement to top the session and advance into Q2. He was joined by Luca Marini of Honda HRC Castrol.
Joan Mir narrowly missed progression to Q2, while Fabio Quartararo was also eliminated after losing valuable time in the final sector of his decisive lap.
Di Giannantonio eventually qualified fourth, narrowly missing out on a front-row start. Bagnaia secured fifth on the grid, while championship leader Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia Racing qualified sixth.
Raul Fernandez claimed seventh place ahead of Jorge Martin in eighth. Marini qualified ninth following his successful Q1 campaign, while Ai Ogura rounded out the top ten.
Diogo Moreira and Jack Miller completed the Q2 field in 11th and 12th positions respectively.
With Marquez and Acosta set to start from the front row after an intense qualifying battle, attention now turns to Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where the fight at the front is expected to be closely contested.
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