Jorge Martin sets lap record at Japanese Grand Prix to snatch pole from Marc Marquez

[p]Ducati's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marquez-marc/UPhfij2b/"]Marquez[/a] held provisional pole with ‌his time of 1 minute 42.481 seconds, ‌but a late scorching 1:42.371 from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martin-jorge/zBBka6dR/"]Martin[/a] catapulted ‌the championship leader to the top of the ‌timesheets.[/p][p][b]"It's a situation that I'm getting used to, we struggle a bit on Friday, then we ‌do a great job trying to ⁠analyse well, and ‌then we make a big step on Saturday,"[/b] Martin ​said.[/p][p]"That was the target. I didn't expect to fight for the pole position. ​I was aiming maybe for the first row, but I was able to do a ⁠great lap, honestly."[/p][embed guid="fce6dbac-970c-4e9f-8d64-7b9326f4c251" url="https://x.com/MotoGP/status/2106216077063565447" social-type="twitter" /][p]Martin ​leads Marquez by 12 points in the championship and will look to widen that gap in Saturday's sprint and Sunday's race.[/p][p]For Marquez, qualifying ended ‌in frustration after a few late errors, including an excursion onto the gravel while pushing for a faster time.[/p][p][b]"I'm happy, but of course, with that second tyre, too many mistakes. I was just able to push in the last lap, and again, another big mistake,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"Starting in the front row was ‌the main target. Let's see if in the ​sprint race we can do a good ‌pace."[/p][p]KTM's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/acosta-pedro/KrGeaHq5/"]Pedro Acosta[/a], who claimed the first MotoGP victory of his career in the Austrian Grand Prix last month, completed the front row.[/p][p]Japan's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ogura-ai/A3AtM47b/"]Ai Ogura[/a] of Trackhouse Racing ⁠was 11th-quickest after topping ⁠the first qualifying ‌session.[/p]