Marc Márquez clinched pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix with a 1:36.785 lap, edging out pre‑qualifying favourite Pedro Acosta by 0.053 seconds.
Marquez’s final surge seals top spot
After an early tumble for both Ducati riders at Turn 1, Márquez recovered, posted a second‑fast lap and then, with five minutes remaining on fresh soft tyres, delivered the circuit‑record‑breaking time that secured his fifth pole of the season.
Acosta, who had dominated Q2 with a sub‑1:37.0 lap, could only reply with 1:36.838, leaving Márquez clear on the grid.
Front‑row composition
Red Bull KTM’s younger teammate Fermin Aldeguer secured third place for Gresini, completing a front row that features two Ducati riders despite the factory team’s early mishap.
VR46’s Francesco Bagnaia recovered from Q1 to line up fifth, joining Ducati teammates Di Giannantonio (fourth) and Bagnaia (fifth) inside the top five.
Mid‑field snapshot
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi recorded the sixth‑fastest time (1:37.428), trailing the leading Ducati trio by just over six‑tenths of a second.
Trackhouse’s Raúl Fernández (seventh) and team‑mate Jorge Martín (eighth) followed, while Honda’s Luca Marini, who had progressed from Q1, posted a ninth‑place lap of 1:37.605.
Ai Ogura (tenth), LCR rookie Diogo Moreira (eleventh) and Pramac’s Jack Miller (twelfth) rounded out the Q2 provisional top twelve.
Notable qualifiers and surprises
Joan Mir set an early benchmark but was displaced by Marini, leaving him thirteenth; the fifth row will host Tech3’s Enea Bastianini and Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo.
World Superbike champion Iker Lecuona returned to MotoGP in 16th place for Gresini, with Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder (17th) suffering a late Turn 12 crash.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (18th), Franco Morbidelli (19th), Alex Rins (20th) and Maverick Vinales (21st) completed the grid, while Cal Crutchlow again served as injury replacement for Johann Zarco.
Q1 performance overview
Bagnaia topped the initial session with a 1:37.443 lap, narrowly ahead of Marini (1:37.594) and Mir (1:37.756). The KTM duo of Bastianini and Acosta were relegated to fourth and fifth respectively, while Quartararo, Lecuona and Binder completed the top‑ten of Q1.
Morbidelli, Razgatlıoğlu and Viñales each fell outside the cut, illustrating a tight spread where fractions of a second dictated progression to the second session.
Qualifying statistics at Balaton Park
All twelve riders who progressed to Q2 posted eight‑lap averages ranging from 151.573 km/h (Márquez) to 149.326 km/h (Miller), illustrating the tight performance spread on the 4.6‑km circuit. The overall fastest sector times were recorded by Márquez on the opening straight, while Acosta posted the quickest corner apex at Turn 3, underscoring their complementary strengths.
With Márquez’s pole extending his flawless qualifying record at Balaton Park, the upcoming sprint will likely hinge on how effectively the KTM and Aprilia challengers can translate their single‑lap pace into race‑day consistency.
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