{
  "id": 16273436,
  "title": "Marc Marquez beats brother Alex to Australian MotoGP pole",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/marc-marquez-beats-brother-alex-to-australian-motogp-pole-16273436",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T02:57:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/sports/motor-sports/2026/10/1562417/marc-marquez-beats-brother-alex-australian-motogp-pole"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Phillip Island, Australia - World champion Marc Marquez narrowly beat his brother Alex to secure pole position for the Australian MotoGP at the Phillip Island circuit on Saturday. The Spanish Ducati rider achieved this feat despite crashing early in the race, forcing him to use a spare bike. Marquez's blistering lap of 1 minute 34.203 seconds was enough to beat Alex by a significant margin of 1.494 seconds. Honda's Johann Zarco took third place on the front row of the grid, followed by Marquez. Championship leader Jorge Martin, who is currently two points ahead of Marc Marquez with five more rounds to go in the season, secured fourth place. However, he trailed behind the front row competitors. On the second row, home hero Jack Miller and last year's winner Raul Fernandez were positioned. Marco Bezzecchi, who won the previous week's race in Indonesia and currently holds third place in the standings, will start from ninth position. Marc Marquez attributes his victory to his team's readiness with the spare bike and his ability to stay focused during the race. Marquez had earlier slid off on his first attempt at the circuit due to pushing too hard. The sprint race will take place later on Saturday, with the main event set for Sunday, even though thunderstorms are forecast. Notably, Honda's Luca Marini will be absent from the weekend action due to a virus.",
  "summary": "PHILLIP ISLAND (Australia): World champion Marc Marquez beat brother Alex to clinch pole position Saturday at the Australian MotoGP, but he needed some white-knuckle laps to do so after crashing early on.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Marc Marquez beats brother Alex to Australian MotoGP pole",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/marc-marquez-beats-brother-alex-to-australian-motogp-pole",
        "published": "2026-10-24T01:42:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Big brother Marc Marquez crashes, hops on spare bike and still beats Alex to pole at Australian MotoGP",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/big-brother-marc-marquez-crashes-hops-on-spare-bike-and-still-beats",
        "published": "2026-10-24T05:01:12.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}