Sawt Falasteen - Martin on pole for Mugello MotoGP

The world championship leader Martin broke the lap record at the Tuscan circuit and finished just ahead of reigning double world champion Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati.

"We worked hard yesterday evening to find the right settings for these qualifications and we achieved an exceptional time," said Martin, second at Catalunya last week.

"We will be in a strong position tomorrow (Sunday) for the race, but today (Saturday) in the sprint this will be a very difficult sprint," said the daredevil rider from Madrid.

Martin leads the standings on 155pts, 39pts ahead of Bagnaia, with Marc Marquez in third on 114.

Bagnaia has been relegated back three places on the GP starting grid on Sunday after being penalised on Friday for hindering Alex Marquez of Ducati-Gresini during qualifying practice.

But he starts second in the sprint on Saturday.

The Spaniard Maverick Vinales of Aprilia was third and his compatriot Marc Marquez, now with Ducati-Gresini, was fourth.

The Italians Enea Bastianini of Ducati and Franco Morbidelli of Ducati-Pramac came in fifth and sixth.

The KTMs missed out on their qualifications with the South African Brad Binder and the Australian Jack Miller starting 13th and 19th, respectively.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST