Acosta takes Japan MotoGP pole as Martin crashes out

Spanish rookie Pedro Acosta took pole position on Saturday for the Japan MotoGP sprint and Grand Prix as championship leader Jorge Martin crashed out of qualifying.

GasGas rider Acosta claimed his first ever MotoGP pole with a blistering lap of 1min 43.018sec at Motegi, 0.246sec ahead of Italy's defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Pramac rider Martin finished in 11th place after sliding off his bike late in the session amid intermittent rain.

Martin leads Bagnaia by 21 points in the overall championship standings with five races remaining.

Spain's six-time world champion Marc Marquez thought he had set a new course record when he clocked a scintillating lap time of 1:42.868.

But the time was wiped off when the Gresini rider was judged to have exceeded track limits and he eventually finished ninth.

Rookie of the Year ✅
Maiden #MotoGP pole position ✅
Third youngest polesitter in the premier class ✅

And the list MIGHT go on for @37_pedroacosta later today 👀🔜#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/hzgAZzUyzO

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 5, 2024

The 20-year-old Acosta became the third-youngest rider ever to take pole position for a MotoGP race.

"We need to be happy because we see that from the last four, five races we can put everything together and we are getting more competitive in every race," he said.

"We need to be happy and calm for this afternoon."

Ducati's Bagnaia struggled early in the session but jumped up the time sheets after making adjustments to his bike.

"I decided to stop and when I started everything was OK again," he said.

"Happy overall. We have a good chance today and tomorrow and we have to take it in a good way."

Spain's Maverick Vinales was third, 0.423 behind Acosta.

Italy's Enea Bastianini, who is third in the overall championship standings, will start on the second row of the grid after finishing fourth.

South Africa's Brad Binder, who finished fastest in Thursday's practice, was fifth, while Italy's Franco Morbidelli was sixth.

Martin is looking to win his first MotoGP championship after finishing second behind Bagnaia last year.

The title race has become a virtual two-way battle between the pair, with Bastianini 54 points behind Bagnaia in third place.