June 27 (Reuters) - Jorge Martin continued Aprilia’s commanding form at the Dutch Grand Prix by securing his first pole position of the season on Saturday, edging out teammate Marco Bezzecchi in a tightly contested qualifying session.
Martin’s late lap knocked Bezzecchi off provisional pole, the Italian having set the early pace after arriving at Assen in dominant form following a clean sweep of Friday’s practice sessions.
It marked the 2024 world champion’s first pole position since the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, ending a wait of more than 600 days.
“To get a pole position in Assen, in the Cathedral, is so emotional. It is one of the biggest moments of my career," Martin said.
"It will be a difficult race tomorrow. But I am happy we are closing the gap."
Brno pole sitter Ai Ogura made it an all-Aprilia front row, qualifying second for Trackhouse,0.011 seconds off Martin, with championship leader Bezzecchi, who was banned from Brno and starts at Assen with an eight-point lead over Martin, setting for third place.
"It will be a tough race for sure. The first row is super important. Qualifying was so good. Unfortunately, I met a yellow flag in my best attempt today. But I am very happy and proud of all the guys who have worked this weekend," Bezzecchi said.
Ogura's teammate Raul Fernandez briefly looked set to extend that sweep when he snatched provisional pole, only for his lap to be deleted for exceeding track limits, leaving him fourth.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was best of the rest in fifth, while defending MotoGP champion Marc Marquez endured a difficult session and will start seventh – his worst qualifying result of the season. Marquez produced a 1m31.2s on his first lap, but had it cancelled for exceeding track limits, while his follow-up tour was also scrubbed for the same infringement.
Pedro Acosta will start eighth after his KTM suffered another technical issue in Q2, having already encountered trouble in final practice. Meanwhile, Gresini's Alex Marquez did not take part in the qualifying session following his crash on Friday, but has not yet been ruled out of the rest of the weekend.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
