Jorge Martin secured pole position for the Austrian GP, edging out Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta to head the front row.
Despite battling arm pump since the Misano round, Jorge Martin secured pole position on a drying Red Bull Ring. By setting the fastest time of the weekend so far in 1:27.917, Martin denied Marc Marquez the top spot by a razor-thin 0.015s.
The result sets up a mouth-watering fight in both the Sprint and the main race, with the top two in the standings heading into Round 15 deadlocked on points at the head of the championship.
Nevertheless, second place marks Marquez’s best qualifying result at the Red Bull Ring since taking pole in 2021.
Further back, Pedro Acosta cannot be counted out, though it was a disappointing session in his final home Grand Prix with KTM, managing third by 0.071s after having led all of Friday’s proceedings.
This remains his best qualifying result since Hungary where he took P2 on the grid.
Marco Bezzecchi heads the second row in fourth, leading Ai Ogura and Alex Marquez, who suffered his second crash of the weekend at Turn 1, the same corner where his brother Marc went down during FP2.
After advancing through Q1, Francesco Bagnaia could only manage seventh, though it still marks the Italian’s best qualifying result since he qualified fifth in Assen.
He starts ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio in eighth, while Fabio Quartararo secured ninth and Q1 pace-setter Johann Zarco rounded out the top ten.
For his final Austrian GP appearance with KTM, Brad Binder will start 11th, leading Fermin Aldeguer in 12th.
Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez was visibly frustrated after narrowly missing out on a direct Q2 spot, leaving him 13th on the grid. Pol Espargaro and Luca Marini completed the top 15.
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