WATCH: Heartbreak for Jorge Martin as he crashes out of Japanese MotoGP qualifying in final moments

The 2024 Japanese MotoGP qualifying session delivered a whirlwind of action and heartbreak, especially for World Championship leader Jorge Martin, who crashed out in the closing minutes. As the rain-soaked drama unfolded, Pedro Acosta clinched his first-ever MotoGP pole position with a record-breaking lap time of 1:43.018, surpassing the provisional pole held by Marc Marquez.

However, Jorge Martin’s qualifying efforts came to an abrupt halt. With just over a minute remaining, Martin crashed out, leaving him stuck in ninth position before the final laps unfolded. To add to the late-session drama, Márquez’s record-setting lap was disqualified for exceeding track limits in Turn 4, demoting him to ninth place, just two ahead of Martin, who would start from eleventh.

Here is the video:

HIGH DRAMA IN Q2! 💥@88jorgemartin has gone down at T9! His session is over 😱#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/GGfYDhUDxz

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 5, 2024

Meanwhile, Pedro Acosta made history, becoming the youngest pole-sitter in the premier class, a moment reminiscent of milestones set by Fabio Quartararo and Márquez in previous years. Conditions in Motegi were far from ideal, with riders initially venturing onto the track to assess whether the drizzle would force them onto wet tyres. 

Although the rain wasn’t heavy enough to drench the surface, it was enough to cause fogging on visors, adding an extra layer of difficulty for the riders. As the session progressed into Q2, the rain intensified slightly, and the stewards waved the rain flag, marking the session as wet from the start.

Marc Marquez’s record-breaking lap!

Marc Marquez seized an early opportunity, capitalizing on the brief dry spell to clock an impressive time of 1:45.7, putting him at the top of the timesheets ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Brad Binder, and Jorge Martin. However, Márquez wasn’t done yet—he slashed 1.6 seconds off his time in the following lap despite a minor scare in the first sector. But Acosta was hot on his heels, gradually improving his lap times, and soon bested Márquez.

Meanwhile, Pecco Bagnaia faced struggles in the early part of the session, only to recover after a tyre change that improved his pace considerably. He shot up to second, trailing Acosta by just 48 milliseconds. As the weather improved, Bagnaia momentarily took the top spot with a near half-second lead, but it was quickly reclaimed by Márquez with a blistering lap time of 1:42.8, smashing the circuit record previously held by Jorge Martin.