MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin stormed to pole position on Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix, with title rival Marc Marquez alongside him on the grid.
Pedro Acosta was third fastest to complete an all-Spanish front row at Motegi.
Martin, riding an Aprilia, made it back-to-back poles after going fastest in Austria two weeks ago in qualifying.
He ended up finishing second in the Grand Prix behind KTM's Acosta.
Martin, who leads the championship from Marquez by 12 points, set a blistering lap record of 1:42.371 at the Motegi circuit.
What a statement by Martinator 😎
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 3, 2026
INCREDIBLE POLE POSITION by @88jorgemartin 👏#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/1UC3vAtPgw
Reigning world champion Marquez, on a Ducati, was 0.110 behind.
Acosta was 0.122sec off the pace.
The sprint is later Saturday and the main event on Sunday.
After lukewarm practice sessions, Martin said his team was finding their form and getting used to the track.
"I didn't expect to fight for the pole position... Maybe for the first row, but I was able to do a great lap, honestly," he said.
"I feel we have great potential. The pace is really good," Martin said.
Marquez, despite performing at record-level speed, was also seen wobbling and running off the course at times in the qualifying session.
"Too many mistakes," he said. "But that's OK. I am happy. Starting in the front row was the main target."
We'll have the #MotoGP grid looking like this a little bit later on 🍿#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/qBQBdDDRVO
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 3, 2026
Italian Marco Bezzecchi on Aprilia will start fourth, ahead of Ducati riders Alex Marquez of Spain and Fabio Di Giannantonio of Italy.
The third row will feature Enea Bastianini on KTM, Raul Fernandez on Aprilia and Honda rider Diogo Moreira.
Local hero Ai Ogura on Aprilia will start from the fourth row.