Francesco Bagnaia hails Malaysian MotoGP pole after ‘incredible’ Jorge Martin battle
“It’s incredible what we did today”
MotoGP title rivals 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Francesco Bagnaia and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jorge Martin spectacularly slugged it out for pole position at the🌊 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Both smashed the Sepang lap record as๊ they surged almo🍸st one second clear of the field.
Martin landed what looked like a knockout blow with a new official lap record on his first run, pitting with a half-second advantage over Bagnai𝕴a.
But with the pressure on, practice leader Bagnaia responded magnificenℱtly on his final run, beating Martin's record time🎉 by 0.216s!
Delight in the factory Ducati pits was matched by shock in the Pramac garage, but Martin rolled up his sleeves and was equa🐼l to Bagnaia through the opening sectors…
However, the title leader was🅷 forced to lift his GP24 when the front s🅰lid away at Turn 14, ending an epic pole contest.
“It’s incredible what we did today because alreadyꦅ the lap time of Jorge was incredible,” said Bagnaia, before underlining the psycholo🍬gical importance of defeating Martin in qualifying.
“Being able to drop this lap time༒ was also super important for the mental side because I know how difficult it is when yo𓂃u are doing your maximum and your opponent is faster.
“So i♐t was v🐷ery important and I’m very proud of my team because we did a very good again. Super happy.”
Martin, who starts this afternoon’s𒉰 Sprint race 17 points ahead of Bagnaia, admitted:
“For sure I thought✃ [my first lap] was enough, but Pecco was incredible today.
“It is what it is. I tried my best. I think🌠 the first row 🌠was the target so I’m happy.
“The race will be tough, both of us have a really good pace so it will be important 🐬to understand where to be stronger.”
Marti🌠n can wrap up the titlꦍe one round early if he holds a 38-point lead on Sunday evening.
A maximum of 12 points are available in the Sprint and 25 in 🐈the Grand Prix tꦜhis weekend.
Meanwhile, Alex Marquez was a commenda🅠ble, if distant, third on the grid.
“I closed my eyes and pushe🔴d in every corner at the 🧸limit!” he smiled. “I tried my best and I love this place. We made a really good lap, also in FP2 we were not bad for race pace.”
The Gresini rider paid tribute to the ‘magnificent’ performance of the duo ahead as he ruled out repeating last year’s Sprint v൲ictory.
“Looking forward to the race but we are not like last year, we don’t ha💜ve the chance to win because these tw👍o are super magnificent," Marquez said.
“When you are fig🐽hting for the title you have like another step more [mentally]. So congrats to Pecco an🎃d Martin.
“B🍒ut we are happy to be here after some difficult races.”
Martin’s team-mate Franco Morbidell🦩i, Alex’s team-mate Marc Marquez and Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini (who fell) will form row two of the grid.
KTM's Jack Mill꧒er was the top non-Ducati rider in seventh followed by the Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo ๊and Alex Rins, who are enjoying their most competitive team performance of the season.
Brad ꦍBinder (KTM), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) completed the Qualifying 2 riders.
Zarc🧔o turned heads by leaping to the top of Qualifying 1 on his final lap, pushing Pedro Acosta out of Qualifying 2 in the ✃process.
Meanwhile, Andrea Iannone enjoyed the best session of his MotoGP comeback with 17th ⛦on the grid.
"It wasn't an easy qualifying, but I'm happy," Iannone said. "On a physical level, with the heat, the humidity and considering how these bikes are physical in braking, ꧟it's complicated but I’m having fun.
"It's a shame we had so little time, because we have the potential to be competitive, we're only 0.8൩ from the first G🌜P23.
"It will be my first time in the Sprint, I will have to understand how to manage myself, I don't know exꦜac🎐tly what to expect, especially in the slipstream with all these wings."
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come an✤d go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
