Bengaluru, October 15: Pramac Racing Rider Jorge Martin grabbed the pole position for the Australian GP in terrific style at the Phillip Island circuit.

The Spaniard, who had never ridden a MotoGP bike at Phillip Island before this weekend, broke Jorge Lorenzo's all-time lap record which dates all the way back to 2013 when he set a 1:27.767 on his Ducati Desmosedici.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was also under lap-record pace in taking second in Q2, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) also on the front row and therefore the first of the title contenders.

Australian GP: Johann Zarco doubles up Down Under Australian GP: Johann Zarco doubles up Down Under

In fact, the top three in the 2022 FIM MotoGO World Championship are third, fourth, and fifth, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) to head up Row 2 and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) set to grid up right next to him.

THE GRID (TOP 10)

1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) - 1:27.767
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.013
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.186
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.190
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.206
6. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.240
7. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.262
8. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.349
9. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.418
10. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.774

Marquez returns

Marc Marquez was among the train which had formed behind Bagnaia for the final few minutes of the session. With the chequered flag about to come out, Bagnaia moved up to second on a 1:27.953, but was beaten almost immediately by the Honda rider in his slipstream, who set a 1:27.780 which was just 0.013sec seconds away from pole.

That made for a top four of Martin, Marc Marquez, Bagnaia, and Aleix Espargaro, with Quartararo edging back up to fifth thanks to a 1:27.973 on his final lap.

Q1 graduates

Johann Zarco classified sixth after getting himself out of Q1, ahead of Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) on a 1:28.029, home hero Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) on a 1:28.116, and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) on a 1:28.185.

Row 4 will be the other Q1 graduate in Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) from Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing).

Chasing pack

Row 5 is headed up by Pol Espargaro, from Joan Mir and Enea Bastianini, who reverted to his first-run 1:28.647.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) qualified 16th and will be joined on Row 6 by WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team duo Cal Crutchlow and Darryn Binder.

Stage set

After a record-breaking Q2, the stage is set for an awesome Sunday afternoon as MotoGP lights up Phillip Island again. Warm Up starts at 9.40 am local time (4.10am IST), before the 27-lap race itself gets underway from 2pm local time (8.30am IST).

Buckle up to rumble Down Under as the fight for the crown reaches fever pitch. Indian audience can catch all the live action on Eurosport channel.