Raul Fernandez secured the first pole position of his career for the 2026 Indonesian MotoGP at Mandalika, placing Trackhouse at the front of the grid. Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi qualified second, while Fabio Di Giannantonio took the remaining front-row place for VR46 Ducati. Championship rivals Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin will start from row two, with Marquez ahead of Martin.

Their final qualifying runs provided an extra tactical angle. Marquez chose to stay behind Martin even as the Aprilia rider tried to slow the pace. Martin remains the championship leader, but Marquez’s double victory at Motegi reduced the margin to two points. The next opportunity to change that balance is the 13-lap Mandalika Sprint, scheduled for 3pm local time, or 8am in the UK.

Razgatlioglu returns to a 19th-place grid slot

Toprak Razgatlioglu will start 19th after returning to action following the incident in final practice. That session was stopped by a red flag roughly ten minutes after the start, when Razgatlioglu suffered a heavy highside. His right shoulder was reportedly dislocated and put back into place before he reached the pits, yet he went on to take part in qualifying.

Bezzecchi led final practice ahead of Fernandez and Marquez, with Di Giannantonio and Martin completing the top five. Ai Ogura and Fermin Aldeguer advanced to Q2 by leading Q1; Ogura was left with one bike after his crash, while Aldeguer fell in Q2. Fernandez also set Mandalika’s official best lap at 1m 28.725s. The circuit’s fastest race lap remains Aldeguer’s 1m 30.499s from 2025.

Aleix Espargaro is also back in the field as Joan Mir’s replacement at the factory Honda team, his first such appearance this season. The change follows Somkiat Chantra’s return to WorldSBK and Takaaki Nakagami’s injury. Last year, Bezzecchi won the Indonesian Sprint from pole before colliding with Marquez in the Grand Prix. Aldeguer won that race, while the other Ducati riders struggled with the special heat-resistant rear tyre; Marquez finished only sixth in the Sprint after taking a long lap.