Martin shatters lap record to take Phillip Island MotoGP pole

Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin has shattered his own outright MotoGP lap record to secure pole position for the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

The Spaniard, currently second in the title race, took half a second off his year-old benchmark when he wheeled his Ducati to a 1:27.246s late in Qualifying 2.

Friday Practice pace-setter Brad Binder will start in the middle of the front row this afternoon after riding his Red Bull KTM to a 1:27.662s, with championship leader Francesco Bagnaia rescuing a front row berth after going through Qualifying 1.

Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller qualified eighth and was seen gesticulating with Aleix Espargaro late in proceedings, with the Aprilia Racing pilot responding in kind.

READ MORE: Miller explains qualifying run-in with Aleix Espargaro

Cloudy, windy weather had greeted riders as they ventured out for Free Practice 2 on Saturday morning at the Island, but the breeze had died down somewhat as Q2 kicked off.

Martin clocked a 1:27.869s and then a 1:27.846s on his first run on the #89 Ducati, with Binder second on a 1:28.092s on his KTM.

Bagnaia (Ducati Team) had gone the long way in qualifying but sat third at the end of the first Q2 runs on a 1:28.271s, while fellow Q1 graduate Marc Marquez had been out and in without setting a time on his Repsol Honda.

When they went out again, Marquez decided to follow Bagnaia, even when the Italian opted to tour the run-off loop at Miller Corner in a bid to shake him off.

Martin then blazed to a 1:27.246s and Binder took up second, albeit 0.416s off the pace.

Bagnaia found further improvement in clocking a 1:27.714s, with Aleix Espargaro taking fourth on a 1:27.844s and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) fifth on a 1:27.903s.

Aleix Espargaro and Zarco will be joined on Row 2 by Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), with Row 3 comprised respectively of Marc Marquez on a 1:28.012s, Miller on a 1:28.074s, and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).

Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) rounded out the top 10, with Row 4 completed by Pol Espargaro (GasGas Tech3) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Team).

Back in Q1, Bagnaia and Marc Marquez advanced, while Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was locked into 13th.

Bagnaia was quickest initially on a 1:28.784s but, after the first runs were done, he was second to GasGas Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez on a 1:28.543s versus a 1:28.435s, with Marc Marquez third at exactly another thousandth of a second slower.

When the second runs started, Bagnaia dawdled out of pit lane in the hope of avoiding making a tow for his rivals, but Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) and Augusto Fernandez waited.

Nevertheless, the Ducati rider went top with a 1:28.160s on his next flyer, having himself got into the slipstream of Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati).

Marc Marquez filed in behind Augusto Fernandez’s GasGas entry and used the tow to knock his compatriot out of Q2 with a 1:28.237s after the chequered flag, while Alex Marquez clocked a 1:28.324s.

Augusto Fernandez was fourth-fastest for the session but is set to start 17th due to a grid penalty for impeding Fabio Quartararo in Practice.

Raul Fernandez (RNF Aprilia) will thus inherit 14th on the grid, from Mir, Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), then Augusto Fernandez, Marini, Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia), Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha), and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda).

Alex Rins (LCR Honda) Rins did not venture out on, having withdrawn due to ongoing leg pain.

Earlier in the morning, in FP2, Bezzecchi was among those practicing bike swaps in case of a flag-to-flag race later this weekend, with rain forecast tomorrow in addition to the high winds.

The 27-lap Grand Prix race starts this afternoon at 15:10 local time/AEDT, with the Sprint to be held tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting.

CLICK HERE for the full updated MotoGP schedule for Phillip Island

Results: Qualifying