MotoGP Aragon GP: Marc Marquez just defeats brother Alex for pole

Marc Marquez secured pole position at the Motorland circuit on Saturday for the MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix. The Spaniard looked in command as he took pole at the circuit where he ended his dry winning spell last year.

Younger brother Alex finished the session in second, having held pole after a mistake from Marc on his second lap caused the factory Ducati rider to lose valuable time. The top three were completed by Franco Morbidelli, who put in a quick lap right at the end of the session to jump up the order.

Marc led the early running with the six-time MotoGP champion being the only rider to dip below the 1m46s barrier. However Alex was always ready to pounce, with only Marc’s late flyer seeing him jump back ahead of his brother.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Francesco Bagnaia overcame his braking woes from the practice sessions to take fourth on the grid.

KTM continued to astound with Pedro Acosta taking fifth, the first time since round three in Austin. Team-mate Brad Binder added to KTM’s solid day as he took sixth.

Seventh went to Fermin Aldeguer’s Gresini Ducati while another KTM occupied eighth position in Q2 in the form of Maverick Vinales.

Fabio Quartararo took ninth, making a miraculous recovery after suffering so many issues with his electronics during the Friday practice sessions. The hard work of the Yamaha engineers eventually paid off as the Frenchman looked much more comfortable out on circuit.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), Joan Mir (HRC Honda), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) rounded out the Q2 contenders.

The rider to beat early in the Q1 session was Quartararo, who led the running before being pushed down to second fastest by Di Giannantonio.

Raul Fernandez was unlucky not to get through, as was Yamaha’s Jack Miller, who looked much more competitive compared to his Friday outings.

Alex Rins was another Yamaha which looked much more competitive but could only finish the session down in fifth while Miguel Oliveira and Enea Bastianini never really looked like putting in a fast lap.

Eighth in Q1 was Augusto Fernandez on the development Yamaha, almost a full second off the pace, with Lorenzo Savadori and Marco Bezzecchi just behind.

British Grand Prix winner Marco Bezzecchi had a torrid time, going down at Turn 3 on his first timed lap in Q1. The Italian only got one lap in, putting his Aprilia on 20th on the grid, which was rounded out by Somkiat Chantra’s LCR Honda.