AUSTRALIA: Jorge Lorenzo’s nine-year-old lap record at Phillip Island was broken by Jorge Martin, the Prima Pramac Racing rider who had never ridden a MotoGP bike before at the circuit before the Australian GP weekend.
Lorenzo’s All-Time Lap Record of 1:27.767s was set in 2013 on his Ducati Desmosedici.
The Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez also set an under-lap-record pace as he claimed the second spot in Q2. Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati Lenovo Team will start first among title contenders.
Jorge Martin had been quick from the start of Q2 as he set a benchmark of 1:28.112s, which was the fastest lap of the Australian GP weekend till that point.
Bagnaia went quicker in his next run to set a time of 1:28.054s. Fabio Quartararo was third fastest with a time of 1:28.174s, while Marc Marquez finished fifth with a time of 1:28.313s.
Once the second qualifying run started, Johann Zarco went fastest with a 1:28.007s before Jorge Martin went quicker than his teammate as he set the new all-time lap record.
Marc Marquez finished in second place with a time of 1:27.780 seconds.Francesco Bagnaia claimed third with a time of 1:27.953s.
Aleix Espargaro was fourth fastest with a time of 1:27.957s, followed by Fabio Quartararo in fifth with a time of 1:27.973s. Johann Zarco ended up in sixth at the end of the final Q2 laps.
Jorge Martin was barely inside the top 10 at the end of Friday’s practise sessions at the Australian GP.
In a post-qualification press session, Jorge Martin said, “For sure, yesterday I was quite lost, but I think the experience I had yesterday, trying to understand a lot of the references, is important to understand what time to go into the corners. So, I took a big step from yesterday.”
Jorge Martin struggled to understand the lines along the Phillip Island Circuit on his Ducati. He had previously set a lap record at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin.
Jorge Martin added, “Yeah, for sure always making a lap record, you don’t do it every day, […] I did it in Austin and here again. So, I’m super happy. I am enjoying the moment because it’s been a while since the last time”.
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