MotoGP Australian GP: Martin blitzes to pole with new lap record

Pramac Ducati rider Martin eclipsed his own benchmark set in qualifying at the same track last year as he demolished the field with a time of 1m27.246s at the end of second qualifying.

That was a massive 0.416 seconds ahead of nearest rival and Friday pacesetter Brad Binder on the KTM, who along with third-placed Francesco Bagnaia was also within last year's pole time.

Factory Ducati man Bagnaia had to fight his way out of Q1 for the second weekend in a row, but unlike last weekend in Indonesia, he successfully booked one of the two slots in the pole shootout.

However, the championship leader still found himself outpaced by his nearest title rival Martin to the tune of 0.468s.

Aleix Espargaro was the lead Aprilia rider in fourth ahead of two more satellite Ducati riders, Martin's Pramac team-mate Johann Zarco and the Gresini machine of Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Honda's Marc Marquez joined Bagnaia in advancing through to Q2, taking advantage of a tow from Augusto Fernandez to knock out the Tech3 GasGas rider.

Marquez utilised the slipstream of Bagnaia in the second part of qualifying to go seventh-fastest ahead of the second KTM of Jack Miller and Maverick Vinales' Aprilia.

Completing the Q2 order were VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi, lead Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro and Enea Bastianini on the second of the works Ducatis.

Alex Marquez (Gresini) was the best of the riders to be eliminated in Q1 and will start 13th, with Raul Fernandez (RNF Aprilia) and the second works Honda of Joan Mir for company on the fifth row.

Quartararo will head up the sixth row on the best of the Yamahas with Tech3's Fernandez one spot behind on the grid due to a three-place grid penalty that came for impeding Quartararo in FP2.

Only 21 riders took part in qualifying following the withdrawal of LCR Honda rider Alex Rins, who continues to suffer with pain in his right leg despite having made a successful return from injury last weekend in Indonesia.

Rins' demise dashes hopes of the full 22-rider field all being fit to take part in the race for the first time this season.

The 27-lap main race is slated to begin at 3.10pm local time on Saturday having been moved forward by a day due to the threat of high winds on Sunday, when the sprint is now scheduled to take place, weather permitting.

MotoGP Australian Grand Prix - Q2 results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	7	1'27.246		183.536
2	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	8	+0.416 1'27.662	0.416	182.665
3	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	7	+0.468 1'27.714	0.052	182.556
4	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	6	+0.598 1'27.844	0.130	182.286
5	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5		Ducati	6	+0.657 1'27.903	0.059	182.164
6	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49		Ducati	7	+0.673 1'27.919	0.016	182.131
7	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93		Honda	5	+0.766 1'28.012	0.093	181.938
8	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	7	+0.828 1'28.074	0.062	181.810
9	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	8	+0.847 1'28.093	0.019	181.771
10	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	7	+0.875 1'28.121	0.028	181.713
11	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44		KTM	7	+0.988 1'28.234	0.113	181.481
12	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	8	+1.041 1'28.287	0.053	181.372
View full results

MotoGP Australian Grand Prix - Q1 results:

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	7	1'28.160		181.633	350
2	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93		Honda	7	+0.077 1'28.237	0.077	181.474	347
3	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	7	+0.164 1'28.324	0.087	181.296	346
4	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	7	+0.275 1'28.435	0.111	181.068	345
5	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25		Aprilia	7	+0.447 1'28.607	0.172	180.717	342
6	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	7	+0.681 1'28.841	0.234	180.241	341
7	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	7	+0.765 1'28.925	0.084	180.070	344
8	L. Marini Team VR46	10		Ducati	7	+0.887 1'29.047	0.122	179.824	349
9	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88		Aprilia	8	+1.022 1'29.182	0.135	179.551	341
10	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21		Yamaha	7	+1.259 1'29.419	0.237	179.076	345
11	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	7	+1.672 1'29.832	0.413	178.252	335
View full results