Quartararo clinches pole in thrilling Dutch GP qualifying

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo claimed his fourth pole position of the season during qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday.The French rider now boasts 20 career poles in the premier class and will start Sunday’s race from the front row alongside Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez.

Quartararo topped a dramatic qualifying session that featured frequent changes at the top of the timesheets, as the leading riders battled for supremacy.

The early stages of the session saw the Ducati trio—Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez and Bagnaia—setting the pace before Quartararo surged to the top with a blistering 1:31.047 lap.

Although both Marquez brothers briefly dipped below the 1:31 mark, Quartararo and Bagnaia quickly responded, reclaiming the top two spots.Marquez made a determined final charge in the closing minutes of qualifying, aiming to snatch pole position at the Dutch Grand Prix.

However, an error on his last flying lap — where he ran wide in the final sector — cost him crucial time and ultimately relegated him to fourth place on the grid.

Despite showing strong pace throughout the session, the mistake meant he missed out on a front-row start.

His brother, Alex Marquez, also struggled to extract more pace in the final runs. Though he briefly held a top-three position, he was unable to improve his time in the latter stages and appeared visibly disappointed in the paddock afterward.Joining Marquez on the second row are Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and VR46 Racing’s Franco Morbidelli. Both riders delivered solid laps under pressure and will be looking to challenge the front-runners during Saturday’s sprint.

Speaking after the session, Quartararo said his primary objective was to capitalise on pole:

“The goal is to try to make a great start, strong laps in the sprint, and see how things go. I love this track… so hopefully we can turn this pole position into a great result on Saturday and Sunday.”