The Spanish rider Jorge Martín has achieved pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, leading a surprising 1-2-3-4 result for Aprilia during the qualifying session.
Martín clocked an impressive time of 1m30.812s on his factory bike, surpassing the Trackhouse team, represented by Ai Ogura, by just 0.011s in an intense competition among the riders.
The top six riders were separated by just 0.143s in a closely contested qualifying that marks the final year of the 1000cc regulation. The battle for pole was essentially a duel between the two official Aprilia bikes, with Marco Bezzecchi, the current championship leader, setting a good pace with an initial time of 1m30.853s.
Although Bezzecchi set the initial time, Martín managed to improve on that time during the same lap, gaining a slight advantage before the last part of the session. In the closing minutes, Raúl Fernández reached the top position with a time of 1m30.796s, but unfortunately, his time was canceled for exceeding track limits.
With Bezzecchi unable to improve his time, Martín was able to maintain his pole position, recovering from a difficult few weeks at Balaton Park and Brno. Ogura, who went out first in qualifying in the Czech Republic, was one of the few riders to improve his time on the final lap, placing Bezzecchi in third position.
Now, Fernández was left in fourth, despite having his best time deleted, allowing Aprilia to take all four top spots on the grid. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia was the best Ducati rider in Assen, finishing fifth and just a tenth off the final reference time. Fabio di Giannantonio closed the list of the top six, while reigning champion Marc Márquez finished seventh after losing several times due to track limit infringements.
The day was complicated for Pedro Acosta, who finished eighth after suffering more technical issues with his KTM, parking the bike in the closing minutes of the session. Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir were the only representatives of Yamaha and Honda in Q2, finishing ninth and tenth respectively, while Alex Márquez, despite being declared fit by the doctor, chose not to participate in qualifying to focus on his recovery.
His teammate, Fermín Aldeguer, had already been ruled out for this weekend after suffering a vertebra fracture in a crash on Friday.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
