Jorge Martin continues his momentum. Performing well for several months, until winning the hat-trick at Misano (pole, sprint, Grand Prix), the Spaniard from Pramac also began to put his paw on the Japanese GP. This Saturday morning at Motego, Martin achieved his 2nd pole position of the season, the 11th of his career, and he will therefore start at the head of the afternoon sprint (8 hours in France) as well as the race Sunday (8 a.m.).
Track record for Martin
By beating the track record (1’43”198), the Spaniard overtook Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), whom he is pursuing in the World Championship standings. He was able to be faster than the Italian by 0”171 and Jack Miller (KTM) by 0”353. This trio will form the first row, which Marco Bezzecchi (VR46, 3rd) did not join, perhaps disrupted by a heavy fall at the start of the session.
The French did not play a major role in these qualifications. Fabio Quartararo was forced to go through the repechage and he did not manage to extricate himself from it. The Yamaha rider, who suffered a sprained right ankle on Friday, undoubtedly paid for a canceled lap for going out of track limits when he was attacking hard. He will start from 14th place.
Johann Zarco had reached Q2 directly but he was not on the pace of the best. The Frenchman from Pramac set the 10th time, 6 tenths behind his teammate Jorge Martin’s time. Marc Marquez (Honda) took 7th place, after passing Q1.