Martin takes dominant pole for Australian MotoGP

Championship leader Jorge Martin powered to a dominant pole position Saturday for the Australian MotoGP sprint race and grand prix with chief title rival Francesco Bagnaia starting from fifth.

In cool, overcast conditions but with the track dry after early rain, the Spanish Pramac rider surged round the waterfront circuit in 1min 27.296sec.

It was his third straight pole at Phillip Island, but he is yet to convert it to a win.

His sizzling ride, narrowly outside his own lap record, consigned six-time world champion Marc Marquez into second, a massive 0.594sec behind, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales filling out the front row.

The wind made things tricky

“It was tricky today with the wind, the track dried out but we didn’t know what to expect,” said Martin.

“I’m really happy to have a another pole — the third in a row. I think we are best in terms of pace.”

Ducati’s defending world champion Bagnaia was fifth, 1.182sec adrift, with Marco Bezzecchi on his Ducati-VR46 fourth. Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez came sixth to complete the second row.

Martin leads Bagnaia by 10 points in the standings with four race weekends left after the Italian won both sprint and MotoGP in Japan a fortnight ago.

Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini and Gresini’s Marquez are 69 and 71 points behind Martin and desperate for a podium place to edge their way back into the title picture.

While Marquez has looked good all weekend, Bastianini struggled and could only manage 10th.

“We are on target, on the front row,” said Marquez, a four-time winner at Phillip Island — three of them in MotoGP. “We have been improving and let’s see what happens.”

Spanish rookie Pedro Acosta will start from a season-low 15th, a comedown after securing pole in Japan.

Australia has never hosted a sprint race before, with last year’s event called off an hour before it was due to start with the track soaked and wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour.

The MotoGP went ahead, with France’s Johann Zarco claiming victory after pipping Bagnaia on the last lap.