Martin not thinking about Ducati’s title hopes: ‘I can take risks tomorrow’
After narrowly getting the better of Francesco Bagnaia on his penultimate lap, pole position for the Thai Grand Prix looked to be heading the way of Martin before Marco Bezzecchi stunned the second-year MotoGP rider to take his first pole.
Martin came close to regaining top spot on his final lap, however, the Pramac rider again lost time in sector four, which was a theme compared to the likes of Martin, Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo during Q2.
Still, Martin feels he has the pace to challenge for victory although it will be interesting to see whether Ducati use team orders - something Martin is not concerned about - in a bid to aid Bagnaia’s title chances.
"I can take some risks tomorrow," said Martin. "It will be interesting to see the start and the first two laps. But yeah, I will take my chances and the victory is important for me.
"I will also be happy with a podium because there are a lot of Ducatis that are competitive, but also Fabio and Marc [Marquez]. A lot of riders will be fast."
Bezzecchi becomes tenth different MotoGP pole sitter in 2022
While Ducati continued their domination of MotoGP qualifying in 2022 at Buriram, Bezzecchi was one of only two Ducati riders not to have achieved a pole, the other being team-mate Luca Marini prior to Q2 getting started.
Over the moon with his final lap which saw him gain over a tenth in the final sector, Bezzecchi said: "It was a fantastic day for sure! Like I said before, I did not expect to make this pole position. My lap was good and I knew it.
"When I arrived in parc ferme it was a big emotion with my crew, with my guys. It was a very good feeling but also happy because we worked well since yesterday because yesterday I was not very fast. From this morning we made a step, also with the pace. Was a very nice day.
"This morning I was already good in the last sector but today I made a very good last corner and this gave me the possibility to get this pole position.
"Overall, I was fast throughout all the lap and as soon as I saw [Jack] Miller and Marc [Marquez] waiting a bit, I said ‘okay I will go alone’ and just make my best."
Bagnaia expects to push until the end of the race
Despite fears that high track temperatures could make tyre wear a problem during Sunday’s race, something Bagnaia has already faced this weekend, the man second in the championship believes pushing until the final lap is possible no matter the conditions.
"The consumption of the rear tyre is high but the performance is high. It’s still there!" added the factory Lenovo Ducati rider. "You can be very constant and very competitive until the final lap of the race but during the race it’s always difficult and it’s different to FP4.
"Let’s wait until tomorrow. I’m hoping for dry conditions but with the step in front that we did, today and yesterday, I think we can be competitive [either way]."
