Jorge Martin knocks it out of the park as he takes his third consecutive pole position at the Australian Grand Prix. Dominating the session, the Spaniard set the benchmark relatively early in Q2 to finish nearly six-tenths clear of the competition.
Marc Marquez will start second, his ninth and final lap of 1:27.890 placing him on the front row. The eight-time world champion was consistently fast throughout the session, but it was clear that no one could touch Martin’s unbelievable one-lap pace.
“Jorge [Martin] is very fast here. Choosing the hard [in Q2] front was a great decision from him. I am happy, we are on the front row,” explained the Spaniard after the qualifying.
Maverick Viñales completes the all-Spanish front row with a lap of 1:27.991, just a tenth behind Marquez. Despite completing fewer laps than most, Viñales “was able to extract the maximum” from the Aprilia, “which is good”.
“I fell well prepared for the sprint. About the race, I don’t know, we will see how competitive we are in the sprint and then go from there.”
The second row sees Marco Bezzecchi in fourth, followed by World Champion Francesco Bagnaia, who struggled to match his title rival and the top three and will have to start fifth on the grid. He was visibly frustrated, unable to find the extra speed he needed for the front row.
Raul Fernandez, making the most of his Q1 appearance, lines up sixth after a solid 1:28.498. He carried his momentum from Q1 into the final session – a great recovery after having to abort Friday’s running because the Spaniard did not feel well.
Further down, Franco Morbidelli will start seventh, ahead of Alex Marquez and Alex Rins, both of whom failed to break into the low 1:28s. Alex Rins was the only rider on a Japanese bike in Q2 as all Hondas and his teammate Fabio Quartararo failed to make their way through Q1.
Enea Bastianini, having survived Q1, could not match his earlier pace and only managed tenth place on the grid. His lap of 1:29.996 left him over two seconds adrift of Martin’s pace.
Luca Marini and Johann Zarco narrowly missed out on a spot in Q2, finishing third and fourth in Q1 as improving track conditions doomed rookie sensation Pedro Acosta.
After not perfectly timing his last flying lap in Q1 KTM’s 2024 best will have to start 15th on the grid, his new MotoGP career low.
Drama hit local hero Jack Miller as well after hitting a hare during the session. Having damaged the fairing of his bike, the Aussie was not able to make it out of Q1 and will start 16th on the grid.
