Jorge Martin clinches pole position in Austrian MotoGP Qualification as Pol Espargaro crashes out of Top 3

Jorge Martin clinched the pole position for the 2024 Austrian MotoGP in a thrilling qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, setting a new lap record. The Pramac Ducati rider stormed to a sensational 1m 27.789s lap time. This remarkable performance saw Martin snatch the pole away from Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, who had been leading the session.

Bagnaia aiming for his third consecutive victory at the Red Bull Ring had held the provisional pole as the final run began. However, Martin's blistering pace pushed Bagnaia to second on the grid. With only three points separating them in the championship standings, the stage is set for an intense battle in the upcoming Sprint race.

Here is the video of the crash: 

A tough one to swallow on a potential front-row lap 😔💔@polespargaro goes down 💥#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/1rly2NVaSk

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 17, 2024

In another impressive turn of events, Marc Marquez managed to outpace Aprilia’s Pol Espargaro to secure the third spot on the front row. Espargaro, who had been showing promising speed and seemed capable of a front-row finish, unfortunately, crashed at Turn 3 during his final run in Qualifying 2. His frustration was evident as he tapped his head on the ground after the incident.

Pedro Acosta fails to make it into Q2

KTM’s Jack Miller and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales completed the second row, showing strong pace throughout the session. Miller, along with Pol Espargaro, advanced to Qualifying 2 by topping Q1, but the battle for Q2 was fiercely contested. Miguel Oliveira and Pedro Acosta narrowly missed out on advancing, despite Oliveira setting the same lap time as Espargaro. They will start the race from the 13th and 14th positions, respectively.

The qualifying session also featured wild-card appearances from test riders Pol Espargaro (KTM), Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia), and Stefan Bradl (Honda), adding an extra layer of excitement to the weekend. Unfortunately, Fabio di Giannantonio suffered a dislocated left shoulder following a crash on Friday and has been ruled unfit for the remainder of the weekend.

Here are the final qualifying results: