Jorge Martin Shatters Records in Mandalika MotoGP Qualifying as Marc Marquez Endures Double Crash Nightmare

Jorge Martin dominates the qualifying round for the Mandalika MotoGP, while Marc Marquez faces a disastrous session with two crashes. Martin secures the pole position for the Indonesian MotoGP with an unbeatable performance.

Jorge Martin, who is currently leading the MotoGP championship, dominated the intense qualifying round for the 2024 Indonesian Grand Prix.

The Pramac Ducati rider, who was overtaken by Enea Bastianini during last Sunday’s race in Misano, made a statement by breaking the all-time lap record on his first flying lap.

Martin once again bettered his performance, setting a new benchmark of 1 minute and 29.088 seconds. This time put him nearly a full second ahead of the competition at the halfway point when teams were changing tires. Unbeknownst to the Spanish racer, he had already locked in the pole position.

Nevertheless, there was disorder in the rear.

Marc Marquez experienced a crash at Turn 15 while attempting to keep up with Martin. Meanwhile, Friday's fastest rider, Bastianini, also fell, though his incident occurred at Turn 16 and at a slower pace.

Due to the yellow flags, defending champion Francesco Bagnaia and final practice leader Franco Morbidelli, along with Marquez and Bastianini, began the last qualifying session without having set a lap time.

Marquez hurried back to the Gresini team's area to grab a scooter, then mounted his backup motorcycle and started his final chase behind Bagnaia. However, the Spanish rider missed his opportunity again by crashing for the second and last time at Turn 10, the same spot where he had a near-miss on Friday.

Following a frantic attempt to push-start his Desmosedici, which resulted in him falling, Marquez angrily raised his fists and gazed upward in exasperation as he departed.

However, a different GP23 racer made a notably distinct return.

Marco Bezzecchi from VR46 was in seventh place when he had a fall just minutes before the session ended. However, he managed to get his bike running again and unexpectedly secured the second position on the starting grid, though he was 0.535 seconds slower than Martin.

Noteworthy displays were delivered by newcomer Pedro Acosta, who secured third place and was the sole KTM rider in the top 15, as well as Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who will line up next to factory Ducati riders Bagnaia and Bastianini on the second row.

Current titleholder Bagnaia, who is trailing Martin by 24 points following a crash last weekend, is up against a significant challenge to prevent the Spaniard from increasing his lead in today's Sprint.

Johann Zarco secured the highest qualifying position for Honda this season, achieving an impressive seventh place for LCR, surpassing Fabio di Giannantonio and Morbidelli.

Maverick Vinales and Raul Fernandez, both riding for Aprilia, will be in the fourth row alongside Marc Marquez.

Zarco and Fernandez advanced to Q2 after topping the Q1 session, during which Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro experienced crashes and Brad Binder encountered a rear brake problem on his KTM factory bike.

The Mandalika Sprint race begins at 3:00 PM local time, which is 8:00 AM BST

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