Martin takes hat-trick of Phillip Island poles
For the third year in a row, Jorge Martin will start the 2024 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix from pole position.
Martin was untouchable in qualifying, posting a 1:27.296 to be a huge 0.594s clear of the rest.
Maverick Vinales and Martin dominated the opening half of the session, but when the intensity lifted, no one could come close to the Pramac Ducati rider.
The choice to run the hard front throughout the session was a masterstroke with his time just 0.050s away from his own lap record.
At the death Marc Marquez snatched second from Vinales as only the front row was within a second of pole.
Marco Bezzecchi carried on his good form to be fourth with Martin’s championship rival Francesco Bagnaia only able to secure fifth.
Australia’s Jack Miller will start down in 16th after a run in with a rabbit led to a Q1 exit.
After only one of the two practice sessions being dry and the track slowly drying through qualifying, Martin did not believe near record pace was possible.
“Not at all,” Martin replied. “Today was a Ticky day with this wind and drying quite fast so we did not know what to expect from the track.
“When I went out it was dry with small dry patches so I was able to improve on the second run.
“Really happy to have another pole here, three in a row.
“But the race will be tough. We are the best in terms of pace, so let’s go for a big one.”
After a wet-dry Q1, the deciding Q2 was an all slick tyre affair.
Martin was the only rider on hard front and soft rear tyre combination, but this did not stop him from getting a flying start.
His 1:29.911 was the fastest opening lap by just 0.065s over Bastianini.
One rider unfortunately not joining them in the opening blast was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who crashed out at Doohan Corner.
The Pramac Ducati rider was the first also in the 1m28s window with only Vinales joining him on the second flying laps, while Bagnaia’s first attempt was deleted due to the yellow flags.
However, Vinales first to go into the 27’s and enjoyed a tenth up his sleeve at the mid point with only Martin within half a second.
Martin opened the final runs to pole by going red in each of the first two sectors.
However, he had to back out of the lap after a big moment going through Lukey Heights.
The #89 was immediately back on it, going even faster on his next push lap, which was a cracker.
The Spaniard flew across all four sectors to take pole by a huge 0.695s.
After losing pole, Vinales had no response and could not improve.
This was critical as Marquez pushed hard on his final lap and managed to snatch second by a tenth.
Bagnaia followed Martin using the hard front and only sat seventh when the chequered flag was waved.
The Italian had a crack, but could only improve two spots to fifth.
Q2 leader Raul Fernandez was sixth ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez.
The leading Japanese manufacturer rider was Alex Rins in ninth ahead of Enea Bastianini, who would be disappointed with 10th.
Brad Binder and Di Giannantonio did not fire a shot in Q2 with the previously knocked out Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller down in 15 and 16th.
Now the stage is set for the first ever Sprint at Phillip Island at 15.00 AEDT.
2024 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Qualifying results
Image: Gold and Goose
2024 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Practice 1: Fri 10.45-11.30 (Fox Sports)
Practice: Fri 15.00-16.00 (Fox Sports)
Practice 2: Sat 10.10-10.40 (Fox Sports)
Qualifying: Sat 10.50-11.30 (Fox Sports)
Sprint: Sat 15.00 13 Laps (Channel 10/Fox Sports)
Warm up: Sun 9.40-9.50 (Fox Sports)
Grand Prix: Sun 14.00 27 laps (Channel 10/Fox Sports)
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