MotoGP Phillip Island: ’Yesterday, I was lost, tomorrow we can fight’ - Martin

Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin flipped from being ‘lost’ on his first visit to Phillip Island on MotoGP machinery to claiming pole position with a new circuit record on Saturday afternoon.

The record in question was set by Jorge Lorenzo and had stood since 2013 but by the close of Q2 it had been beaten, by both Martin and second-place man Marc Marquez, with the Ducati rider’s name in the history books thanks to a 1’27.767 lap.

“Lorenzo won’t be super-happy today now, but for sure, it’s time to beat those records because the bikes are much faster now,” Martin said of claiming the new all-time lap record from the five-time world champion. “Making a lap record, you don’t do it every day - I did it in Austin, now here again - so I’m super happy. I am enjoying the moment because it’s been a while since the last time.

“Yesterday, I was a bit lost because this track is so fast – it’s my first time here so I had to take the measurements – but finally today, I had good pace. Even Pecco overtook me on the outside in corner three so imagine that! But I think the experience I took yesterday, the reference I think is so important, to understand where is the time to go into the corner. I did a big step from yesterday, fast corners are difficult with the MotoGP but I felt great today.

“Qualifying went great,” he continued. “I felt super good on the first run but then I thought that it would be really difficult to go even faster because I’ve struggled a bit with the front on the second runs normally, this weekend. I was on the limit, risking a lot but finally a good reward, so happy with the lap and for sure hope to be also fighting tomorrow.

“I feel strong for the race also, and for time attack. I thought I could also be competitive – not