Jorge Martin destroyed the MotoGP lap record at the Losail International Circuit to secure the first pole of the 2024 campaign ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Having shown strong speed across the entire weekend, his potential being illustrated by setting the second best practice time that secured him a Q2 spot, Martin was on a mission from the outset of the pole shootout. Keen to demoralize his opponents, Martin stitched together a blistering opening gambit to put down a 1:50.789s.
This left him a commanding 0.230s clear of VR46’s Fabio Di Gianantonio, who secured victory in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix just a few months prior. Several riders looked set to challenge Martin’s supremacy as the final runs got underway, with many session best sectors being posted.
Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia looked set to eclipse his 2023 title rival, though an off-track excursion at the penultimate bend meant he could only move up to second. The Italian was then bumped down as several improved behind, with the most notable being Espargaro.
The Spaniard lapped just 0.083s adrift of Martin to go second, though the other pole threats dropped off as they progressed around the lap. Pramac Ducati’s Martin left his final attempt until the very last moment, though any further improvement was dashed after KTM’s Brad Binder crashed just in front of him.
It didn’t matter though as his earlier effort was enough to seal pole position, with Espargaro impressing for Aprilia just behind. Enea Bastianini managed to get the better of team-mate Bagnaia to complete the front row, while Binder’s best attempt sneaked him ahead of the world champion in fourth.
Marc Marquez was next up in sixth for Gresini just ahead of Di Gianantonio, while rookie Pedro Acosta continued to impress with eighth on the grid for his maiden premier class outings. The sister Gresini entry of Alex Marquez ended up ninth, while the other Aprilia of Maverick Vinales rounded out the top ten.
Jack Miller and Raul Fernandez, who both progressed from Q1 into the pole shootout, completed the 12 Q2 combatants.
Johann Zarco narrowly missed out on getting his LCR-run Honda into the pole shootout to the tune of just 0.011s, Miller pipping him in the end. The Frenchman has a good chance to move forward from 13th though ahead of Trackhouse Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi, who struggled for outright speed.
Fabio Quartararo could manage only 16th on his Yamaha, while team-mate Alex Rins will start 20th after running into mechanical problems on his out-lap. He managed to scoot his M1 back to his pit box, though he ran out of time to set a second competitive effort.
Joan Mir was the best-placed factory Honda pilot in 17th, though he missed out on a chance to improve after tucking the front of his RC13V at Turn 16. Team-mate Luca Marini’s tough weekend continued, as he managed only 21st in the field ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli.
