Ai Ogura claims maiden pole position at Grand Prix Czechia, Marc Marquez goes fifth quickest in qualifying

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Trackhouse's rider Ai Ogura secured his first-ever MotoGP pole position on Saturday morning in Brno at Grand Prix Czechia. Last season's Rookie of the Year continues to impress in 2026 and he has made himself one of the favourites for the weekend's Sprint race, as well as Sunday's full-length event.

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Ai Ogura secured his first-ever MotoGP pole at Grand Prix Czechia on Saturday.

The Japanese Trackhouse rider had never qualified higher than fifth spot over the last two seasons since his debut in the format, but has now made himself one of the favourites for the win at Saturday’s Sprint race and Sunday’s full-length event, both shown live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

The Aprilia bikes have been tipped to dominate this week after Ducati Lenovo secured a double in the previous round at Grand Prix Hungary, when world champion Marc Marquez triumphed as he made his way back to full fitness.

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Ducati provided the second-fastest bike, as VR46 Pertamina’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was given the chance to improve on his third spot in the 2026 world championship standings.

Di Giannantonio has a 42-point deficit to catch up with Marco Bezzecchi, who leads the way with 180 points accumulated so far this season.

The last spot on the front row of the grid was earned by Francesco Bagnaia, Marquez’s Ducati team-mate.

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On the second row, Aprilia’s factory rider Bezzecchi finished fourth-fastest on Saturday morning, and he will hope to extend his 20-point lead over his nearest rival, team-mate Jorge Martin.

Martin could only finish 10th, and has two long-lap penalties to serve after causing a Turn-1 crash in Hungary, one which led to an apology to fellow Aprilia riders Bezzecchi and Fernandez, both of whom were knocked out of the running in that race.

Marquez is fifth-quickest, and after a couple of crashes so far this weekend, he may not yet be at his best after returning from surgery to fix a fractured metatarsal and a broken shoulder screw.

The 33-year-old Spaniard is 72 points behind Bezzecchi in the chase for the world title, and his double victory has given credibility to his chances of retaining his title from last season after months of struggling with poor form and injury.

Alongside him in sixth is Honda’s Brazilian youngster, Diogo Moreira.

Fernandez is seventh on his Trackhouse, while Pedro Acosta could only manage eighth spot for KTM.

Franco Morbidelli guided his VR46 Pertamina to ninth, ahead of the struggling Martin.

BK8 Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer was 11th quickest, with the final spot in Q2 going to Honda’s Joan Mir.

TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson had tipped Ogura as one of the favourites for the track, given the Aprilia is set up to succeed compared to Balaton Park’s anti-clockwise design, and he was quickest in practice on Friday afternoon.

With the first pole of his MotoGP career, he appears to be continuing his improving form in his second season.

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