SEPANG, Oct 22 — Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin did not expect to smash the all-time lap record during the Qualifying session of the 2022 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here, today.
The 24-year-old Spaniard clocked one minute and 57.790 seconds (s) to beat the old record of 1:58.303s held by French rider Fabio Quartararo in 2019.
Martin said it was not an easy ride to hit that time, besides he had trouble with the hot weather conditions during the session which was held in the afternoon.
“It is always difficult (to hit) 1:57s and today was really hot, so, I didn’t expect to make this lap time, also after Free Practice 4, I crashed and lost a bit of confidence.
“The first run I did 1:58s and did two mistakes, I thought the rest of the guys, some of them will improve 1:58s that’s why I tried harder and finally the record. It was amazing and I’m looking forward to seeing how I did it because it was on the limit,” he said at the press conference here, today.
With the lap record he set today, Martin also managed to claim the pole position for the main race tomorrow, and close behind him in second place was Italian Enea Bastianini of Gresini Racing MotoGP with a time of 1:58.246s while sixth-time world champion Spaniard Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda Team was in the third position after clocking 1:58.454s.
Bagnaia currently holds a 14-point lead coming into this penultimate race of the season and could clinch his maiden championship crown if he wins in Sepang and Quartararo finishes outside the podium.
— Bernama
