MotoGP - Thailand Grand Prix - Chang International Circuit, Buriram, Thailand - October 25, 2024 Ducati Lenovo Team's Francesco Bagnaia in action during practice. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
BURIRAM, Thailand (Reuters) - MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia twice smashed the lap record in warm and humid conditions at the Buriram International Circuit on Saturday to take pole position for the Thailand Grand Prix.
The Ducati rider sped to a record time of one minute and 29.076 seconds early in the second qualifying session before becoming the first rider to dip below 89 seconds in Buriram with a time of 1.28.700 on his sixth lap.
"I'm very optimistic at the moment. I think we did a very good job with the bike and this morning we took a little step in front," the Italian said.
"I was confident I would be able to be in the front row. We managed to do a very good lap time."
Ducatis locked out the front row with Bagnaia's teammate Enea Bastianini and championship leader Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing rounding out the top three.
Bagnaia sits 20 points behind Martin in the championship standings and will fancy his chances of making up some ground on the Spaniard during the sprint later on Saturday.
Martin looked on pace to set a lap record late in the session but crashed and had to settle for third place on the grid.
"Yeah, I'm okay with first row, that was the target. Today was difficult, it's really hot, really humid, so it was difficult to be better than yesterday," Martin said.
"I was coming in really, really hot, just going for that one minute 28. First row is enough. I see (Bagnaia) is quite strong, so let's go, let's go for it."
Gresini Racing's Marc Marquez, who won last week's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix and had set the previous lap record during practice on Friday, was fifth-fastest after losing his front end and crashing midway through Q2.
It was yet another disappointing qualifying session for six-times world champion, who has struggled to make it through qualifying unscathed in recent weeks.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India)
