Title-chasing Marc Marquez on Saturday qualified third on the grid for the Japan MotoGP sprint and grand prix, with Francesco Bagnaia claiming pole position.
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Marquez is on the verge of his seventh world championship crown and can seal the deal if he finishes the weekend at Motegi with three more points than his brother and closest rival Alex Marquez.
Alex Marquez will start from eighth on the grid after being forced to come through the first qualifying session for the first time this season.
It's going to be an unmissable #TissotSprint with the grid looking like this 👀#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/8GY0qceZKk
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 27, 2025
Bagnaia, who won both the sprint and the grand prix in Japan last year, took pole in a track-record time of 1min 42.911sec in cool, dry conditions.
Honda's Joan Mir was second, 0.092sec behind, with Marc Marquez 0.132sec off the fellow Ducati of Bagnaia.
"Nobody said that it would be easy," said Marquez, who crashed in Saturday morning's free practice.
"I feel better and better. It's true that I had a small crash. It affected a bit the confidence, but then in qualifying I felt comfortable with the bike."
Spain's Marquez is looking to win his first world title since 2019 and has been in commanding form this season.
He has 11 grand prix wins and his 512 championship points are already a single-season record for a MotoGP rider.
He can take a giant step towards the title in Saturday's sprint, with the grand prix to come on Sunday.
Bagnaia, a two-time world champion, has struggled this season and currently sits third in the overall standings.
But the Italian rolled back the years with his record-breaking lap, coming through late to knock Mir off the top of the timesheets.
"It's incredible the feeling that I'm having," said Bagnaia.
"I feel that I can push, I feel that I can do what I want with my bike, which was something that was missing from last year."
Pedro Acosta qualified fourth despite missing 10 minutes of the session after a technical problem with his KTM bike.
Fabio Quartararo was fifth, followed by Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Alex Marquez.
Grid for the Japan MotoGP sprint and grand prix after qualifying on Saturday:
1st row:
Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati), Joan Mir (ESP/Honda), Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati)
2nd row:
Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM), Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha), Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-VR46)
3rd row:
Luca Marini (ITA/Honda), Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini), Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia)
4th row:
Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse), Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR), Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46)
5th row:
Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse), Jack Miller (AUS/Yamaha-Pramac), Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini)
6th row:
Miguel Oliveira (POR/Yamaha-Pramac), Jorge Martín (ESP/Aprilia), Brad Binder (RSA/KTM)
7th row:
Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha), Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda), Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM-Tech3)
8th row:
Somkiat Chantra (THA/Honda-LCR), Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM-Tech3)