Fabio Di Giannantonio claimed pole position during MotoGP qualifying Saturday at Autódromo Internacional de Goiânia – Ayrton Senna, in Brazil. Riding his Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP26 on the dry 2.38-mile (3.84 km) track, the Italian turned a 1:17.410. Not only was that good enough to top the 22-rider field, it was also his first pole since 2022.

Marco Bezzecchi was the best of the rest with a 1:17.480 on his Aprilia Racing RS-GP26, and Marc Marquez claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a 1:17.491 on his Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP26.

Row-two qualifiers included Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo (1:17.561), Bezzecchi’s teammate, Jorge Martin (1:17.630) and Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ai Ogura (1:17.702).

More from a press release issued by MotoGP:

Di Giannantonio heads Bezzecchi after dramatic first qualifying in Brazil. The Q1 graduates steal the show, Marc Marquez takes third and Quartararo makes some magic to head Row 2.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) came out on top in a dramatic Q2 in Brazil, moving through from Q1 to head the grid despite a crash on a lap that would have put him even quicker. His 1:17.410 sees him secure pole ahead of fellow Q1 graduate Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), with Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) forced to settle for third after a crash on his first run. He was far from the only one.

A word up top for the rider in fourth too – with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) putting in a stunner to qualify fourth and head Row 2 in the new V4-powered YZR-M1’s second full-time Grand Prix.

Q1: Bezzecchi on a mission, Diggia on the chase

There was early drama for Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) as he crashed out in the first minutes – rider perfectly ok – following a crash in FP2 for the Italian too, clearly searching for the limit at a new venue. Bezzecchi was another who crashed in FP2 – compounding the pressure of being in Q1 – but the Italian was top of the timesheets from early doors.

He suffered a runoff later in Q1 but rejoined, and his place at the top of the session remained unthreatened – in fact, his Q1 lap remains the fastest of the day. Di Giannantonio joined him in the pole shootout in Q2, finding some impressive speed on Saturday and about to find even more.

Q2: Drama and magic in equal measure

Drama hit early again in Q2. First for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the Italian slid out at Turn 9, rider ok, and then for Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) soon after. Acosta was electric on his feet sprinting for the service road, luckily finding KTM stablemate Mika Kallio ready and waiting on a scooter to taxi him back to the paddock.

Next, about 30 seconds later Marc Marquez was on the floor – in exactly the same place. The race back to the box was on, as Diggia led the way on the timing screens from Marc Marquez by 0.071, Acosta hovered in P7 and Bagnaia remained the only rider with no time set after binning it before putting one in.

The #63 was first back out though and soon rectified that to at least slot into P9. Bezzechi then threatened the front row and took over in second, 0.060 off Diggia, with Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) slotting into fourth after a few red sectors and then seeing the lap fade slightly.

Meanwhile, Diggia improved at the top by 0.010, and then more drama – this time fo Martin. Red sectors this time saw the #89 crash out with no time to get back into the session, although rider perfectly ok.

The next red sector stunner to end in the gravel came from Diggia as an advantage of over a tenth – on his own time – went beginning as he slid out. The yellow flags got in the way for a few riders as the clock ticked down too, leaving only a few laps left to come in.

One of those coming in was from Quartararo. The #20 was up in the first sector, up in the second, and only 0.040 off in the third. Crossing the line it wasn’t quite pole, but it was just 0.151 off it as he slotted into fourth with a near-supernatural performance on Saturday morning.

Pole position, after his awesome charge up from Q1, stayed with Diggia. The #49 heads Bezzecchi by 0.070 with Marc Marquez – who couldn’t make up time as he headed back out – just 0.011 behind him to complete the front row for MotoGP’s return to Brazil. The Q1 graduates head the grid and Bezzecchi’s Q1 laptime is actually the fastest lap of qualifying – but Diggia’s pole is only 0.002 off it.  

THE GRID

Behind Diggia, Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez, Quartararo heads that second row, only 0.070 off the #93 ahead of him and 0.069 ahead of Martin, who didn’t lose out on any more positions after his crash barring Quartararo’s leapfrog. Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) takes P6 to complete that second row.

Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) returns from injury with a P7 qualifying position, just ahead of Alex Marquez in eighth. Acosta will be ruing his crash as he lines up on the third row in P9, looking to make big progress from lights out to defend that championship lead.

Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) takes P10, with Bagnaia unable to make much headway up from a 1:18.122 – putting him P11 on the grid. Toprak Razgatlioglu will line up P12 after moving directly through thanks to his stunning exploits with Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP on Friday, and the Turkish rookie is only 0.300 off Bagnaia ahead of him.

The stage is set for a stunning first Tissot Sprint in Brazil, with Acosta looking to move up, Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez right alongside each other… and Diggia on pole looking to prove his own point. Find full qualifying results HERE and tune in from 15:00 local time (UTC -3)!