It’s another Saturday afternoon to remember for MotoGP™ rookie sensation Jorge Martin as the Spaniard set a new Red Bull Ring lap record to stick his Pramac Racing Ducati on pole for the second weekend in a row. Now, ahead of Sunday’s Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, delve into 10 statistics that have surfaced on yet another scintillating Saturday.
1. Martin has qualified on pole position after setting a new all-time lap record at the Red Bull Ring. It’s the third pole of his rookie season along with Doha when he took his maiden podium in MotoGP™ and last weekend, after which he took his maiden win in the class.
2. Martin becomes the third rider since the current qualifying format was introduced in 2013 to qualify on pole position after passing through Q1, along with Marc Marquez (Thailand 2018) and Maverick Viñales (Valencia 2018).
3. With his third pole position in MotoGP™, Martin becomes the first rookie to take three pole positions in his first seven MotoGP™ races since Jorge Lorenzo, who did it in his first three races in the class in 2008.
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4. Ducati riders have won six of the seven MotoGP™ races at the Red Bull Ring since the Austrian track was introduced to the calendar in 2016, with four riders: Andrea Dovizioso (3 wins), Andrea Iannone (1), Jorge Lorenzo (1) and Jorge Martin (1).
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has qualified second for his 32nd front row start, on what is his 44th race in MotoGP™ - that’s a percentage rate of nearly 72.7%. In his 31 previous front row starts, he went on to finish on the podium 16 times, including six of his seven premier class wins so far.
6. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who finished 11th last weekend at the Styrian GP, has qualified third for his fifth front row start so far this season, his first in three successive MotoGP™ races.
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7. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) has qualified fourth, for his 11th successive start from the front two rows. He will be aiming to stand on the podium for the first time since he was second in Catalunya earlier this season.
8. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified fifth as the highest placed Honda rider, equalling his best qualifying result since he came back from injury in Portugal, which was in Germany – a race he went onto win.
9. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), who finished on the podium twice last year at the Red Bull Ring, has qualified sixth, which is the 10th time out of 11 races so far this year he starts from the front two rows of the grid. This is the third time this year there are four Ducati riders on the front two rows along with Doha and Styria.
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) has qualified in seventh as the highest placed Suzuki rider, for his second best qualifying result of the season following his fifth place last weekend in Styria.