Northamptonshire [UK], August 8 : Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) has come out swinging after the summer break to take the first pole position of the second half, setting a new lap record 1'56.160 to pip Raul Fernandez to the top by just 0.021 at the United Kingdom MotoGP at the Silverstone Circuit, according to a press release from MotoGP/Eurosport.
The SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team made it with both riders on the front row as Ai Ogura slots into third alongside his teammate.
The top six in the Championship are the top six on the grid - not in the same order barring P1 - with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) fourth, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) fifth and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) P6.
Silverstone qualifying delivered plenty of drama, with four former winners -- Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini and Alex Rins -- featuring in Q1 as riders battled for a place in the final qualifying session.
Franco Morbidelli initially led Q1, with Diogo Moreira in second, but Iker Lecuona produced a strong final lap to move into the top two. Quartararo also pushed hard on his final attempt but missed out on Q2 by just 0.050 seconds. Morbidelli and Lecuona advanced, while Quartararo qualified 13th and Moreira 14th.
Q2 saw several changes at the top of the timing sheets. Marco Bezzecchi briefly took the lead before Raul Fernandez set a new lap record of 1:56.181. Ai Ogura then moved into second, while Fabio Di Giannantonio climbed to third.
However, Jorge Martin had the final say. The Aprilia rider produced a brilliant 1:56.160 on his last flying lap to take pole position, edging Fernandez by 0.021 seconds. Ogura completed an all-Aprilia front row.
Bezzecchi qualified fifth, with Di Giannantonio the only rider to break Aprilia's dominance in the top six. Alex Marquez will start seventh, followed by Morbidelli and Pedro Acosta.
Iker Lecuona impressed to qualify 10th, while Jack Miller was the top Yamaha rider in 11th. Joan Mir took 12th.
Francesco Bagnaia endured a difficult session and will start 16th, while Rins qualified 17th, Brad Binder 18th and Bastianini 19th. Home favourite Cal Crutchlow will start 20th, just 0.020 seconds behind Bastianini.
Pol Espargaro, Toprak Razgatlioglu and wildcard rider Augusto Fernandez complete the remaining positions on the grid.