Buriram, Thailand: Marco Bezzecchi took pole position for the MotoGP season-opening sprint and grand prix in Thailand on Saturday, with defending world champion Marc Marquez starting from second on the grid.
Italian Bezzecchi topped the timesheets in all three practice sessions in Buriram and he continued his impressive form with a fastest qualifying lap of 1min 28.652sec.
Marquez, who is launching his bid for a record-equalling eighth world title this week, was 0.035sec behind Bezzecchi.
“It will be tough this afternoon, also tomorrow, but we are quite strong so we will try to fight with the top guys,” said Bezzecchi.
Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez was third, followed by VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and 2024 world champion Jorge Martin of Aprilia.
Bezzecchi led the way from the start of the qualifying session but he ended it with a heavy crash.
The 27-year-old took some time to get up before walking gingerly off the track, but later said that he was “OK”.
“A small mistake in the end but fortunately the lap time was good enough not to lose pole position,” said Bezzecchi.
Marquez begins the season still suffering the effects of a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the final four races of last season.
He was off the pace early in qualifying but then burst through to secure his place on the front row.
