Marco Bezzecchi breaks lap record to claim pole position at Italian Grand Prix

Marco Bezzecchi in action
Marco Bezzecchi in actionANDREA DIODATO / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP

Aprilia rewrote the history books in Mugello after Marco Bezzecchi broke ⁠the lap record to take pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday while his ‌team mate Jorge Martin broke the MotoGP top speed record.

Bezzecchi clocked ‌one minute and 43.921 seconds on home turf ‌and he is joined on the front row by ‌Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez and Martin as Aprilia celebrated ‌their first-ever front row lockout.

"It's a very, very fast lap time, but the level was amazing today from everybody, ‌so I really pushed my all to ⁠try to make ‌the perfect lap," Bezzecchi said.

"Very satisfied, of course. It was ​an important qualifying and now we must enjoy a little bit, but we must also ​come back to the box and work for the races because the two main events are now."

Bezzecchi was ⁠sporting a special ​helmet dedicated to Alex Zanardi, the former Italian F1 driver and Paralympic champion who died earlier this month.

Earlier in practice, Martin set a top-speed record in MotoGP ‌when he pushed his Aprilia machine to 368.6 km/hr (229 mph). It was also Martin's first front row start since the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix, 574 days ago.

"It's a nice feeling, I knew I could beat that record because I was behind two other bikes and I said, 'Okay, let's go. I will brake the latest I can to make that high ‌speed.' Yeah, it was good fun," he said.

Reigning champion ​Marc Marquez made a remarkable return to the ‌track after undergoing double surgery following a crash at the French Grand Prix and the Ducati rider managed to go fourth fastest.

The Spaniard lines up on the second row alongside compatriot Fermin ⁠Aldeguer of Gresini Racing ⁠and Ducati team ‌mate Francesco Bagnaia.