Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez beat his Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia by just 0.059 seconds in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix to secure his third career pole position at Mugello.
The track in the rolling hills of Tuscany has rarely been a happy hunting ground for Marquez, despite all of the vast success the six-time MotoGP champion has tasted. But Ducati saw the Spaniard set the pace in qualifying this Saturday with a new Mugello lap record of 1:44.169.
It marks Marquez’s first pole position at Mugello since the 2019 Italian GP, with his first pole in Tuscany also coming back in 2014. The 32-year-old has also now taken six pole positions during the first nine rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season since he joined Ducati from Gresini.
Davide Tardozzi offers a subdued response to Marc Marquez’s Italian GP pole after celebrating Francesco Bagnaia
Marquez also set the provisional pole time before the final runs in Q2 with a 1:44.500 lap to break the previous lap record around Mugello that Jorge Martin set for pole position for the 2024 Italian GP. But Fabio Quartararo found heaps of time in the third sector for a 1:44.411.
Yet as Quartararo’s fears about Yamaha’s electronics at Mugello came true in the last sector, the Frenchman’s effort was ultimately only fast enough for P4. His YZR-M1 fishtailed leaving the last corner would serve to open the door for Marc Marquez, Bagnaia and Alex Marquez.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
Bagnaia initially knocked Quartararo off the top spot with his 1:44.228, having made 0.241s on the Yamaha rider in Mugello’s final sector. The 28-year-old’s effort to provisionally clinch pole for the 2025 Italian GP also drew an excited reaction from Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi.
Tardozzi joyfully pumped his fists in the Ducati garage after watching Bagnaia take the finish line with three and a half minutes remaining of Q2. But Marquez was still to set his lap, and stole pole off Bagnaia by 0.059s after making up 0.071s in the final sector on his teammate.
Yet Ducati team manager Tardozzi gave a much more subdued reaction when the cameras then returned to the Borgo Panigale brand’s garage after Marquez got pole for the Italian GP. Tardozzi was seen just raising his eyebrows, but he may have then reacted more off-camera.
Francesco Bagnaia won the 2024 Italian GP and Mugello Sprint from P2 on the grid
Qualifying for the Italian GP going Bagnaia’s way in the final minutes of Q2 might have been big for the Turin native’s endeavours to eat into his 93-point deficit to Marquez in the riders’ championship. But he must now beat the Spaniard on the track instead to deal any damage.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Ducati general manager Luigi Dall’Igna is ‘convinced’ Bagnaia can ‘do well’ during the rest of the 2025 season as he has the mental strength to manage being Marquez’s teammate. Yet it will test his mental strength seeing the 32-year-old stun him at the end to take pole position.
At least Bagnaia knows he did not need pole position to do the Mugello double at the 2024 Italian GP. Martin beat the Italian for pole, but it was Bagnaia who won the Sprint Race and the Grand Prix. He also beat Marquez by 1.469s to win the 2024 Sprint from P2 on the grid.
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