Martin smashes Red Bull Ring lap record to claim back-to-back MotoGP poles

Jorge Martin will start the Austrian MotoGP from pole position just as he did a week ago after smashing a new lap record. 

It looked like the honour of having the lap record was heading Fabio Quartararo’s way following the opening run, however, Martin made his final lap count with a time of 1:22.643s - 0.036s quicker than the Yamaha man.

To begin the session, Martin set an impressive low 1m 23s lap - over three tenths better than team-mate Johann Zarco. 

Martin’ initial time already looked like one that would be difficult to beat based on the hot track temperatures, however, Quartararo devastatingly went three tenths quicker. 

The Yamaha rider gained over two tenths in the final two corners alone on his way to clinching top spot. 

But Martin responded while following Zarco, who himself improved to go fourth fastest. 

Francesco Bagnaia wil take up the last place on the front row for tomorrow’s race, while Marc Marquez was the top Honda in fifth. 

Jack Miller made it four Ducatis inside the top six positions with sixth, ahead of Joan Mir, Aleix Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder. 

Ninth and tenth for the factory KTM duo is a huge improvement from last weekend, and one that should give Binder in particular the chance to fight for the podium given his late race pace. 

Rounding out the two final places on the fourth row are Honda riders Pol Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami. 

Qualifying 1

After suffering crashes in both FP3 and FP4, Martin bounced back in superb fashion to advance through to Q2 with the fastest time. 

Martin was just under two tenths quicker than Miguel Oliveira who pipped Alex Rins in the dying seconds.