MARTIN TAKES SECOND POLE, MILLER IN THE HUNT IN AUSTRIA

For the second time in his rookie MotoGP season Jorge Martin has taken pole position, this time at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

The Spaniard inherited pole position after Fabio Quartararo had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 9.

Martin deserved pole as he set several scorching times, including when he became the first ever rider to lap the Austrian circuit in under 83 seconds, this was the lap that would earn him pole.

Martin on his Pramac Ducati set a 1m 22.994s time, just 0.044s faster than factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia.

With his fastest lap cancelled Quartararo’s second-fastest time was enough to see him qualify third, still within a tenth of pole.

Aussie Jack Miller qualified in fourth, the championship contender on his factory Ducati bike was 0.308s off pole.

Miller was a mere 0.018s faster than reigning champion Joan Mir. After a crash in the final practice session the factory Suzuki rider responded to find a spot on the second row.

Championship contender Johann Zarco will start from sixth ahead of factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro.

Eight-time Motorcycle World champion Marc Marquez set the fastest first sector of the session on his final attempt but fell off his Honda at Turn 3.

As a result, Marquez will start from the third row in eighth, one spot ahead of Maverick Vinales.

The LCR Honda men were next with Takaaki Nakagami in 10th and Alex Marquez 11th. Miguel Oliveira rounded out the 12 runners in the second qualifying segment.

While Alex Marquez and Oliveira snuck through into Q2, there were several disappointments in Q1.

Factory Suzuki rider Alex Rins missed out by 0.033s and as a result will start way down in 13th.

Enea Bastianini appeared to have ended the session on top of the timesheets, however like Quartararo had his fastest lap stripped for abusing track limits.

The Italians second fastest time was nowhere near as good, and he will start from 20th position.

KTM Wildcard Dani Pedrosa nearly caused an upset on his return, he qualified in 14th ahead of Pol Espargaro and Brad Binder.

The man everyone is talking about, Valentino Rossi, less than 48 hours after announcing his retirement qualified down in 17th, 0.018s faster than his half-brother Luca Marini.

After falling several times over the weekend Iker Lecuona qualified in 19th ahead of Bastianini, Lorenzo Savadori, Danilo Petrucci and replacement rider Cal Crutchlow.

The Styrian Grand Prix commences at 10pm AEST.

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