San Francisco Frontiers - Record-breaking Martin takes pole for Australian MotoGP

In dry and partly cloudy conditions, the Spaniard ensured he will start at the front of the grid with a blistering lap of one minute and 27.767 seconds.

It smashed the 1:27.899 mark held by Jorge Lorenzo since 2013 and, incredibly, came with the Ducati-Pramac rider having never driven the circuit before this weekend.

"I thought I could be competitive, but not this competitive," he said.

Six-time world champion Marc Marquez amazingly saved a crash when he lost the front end of his Honda and spun at turn 10 on his first lap, but recovered to take second, 0.013 behind, also under Lorenzo's time.

World championship leader Quartararo of Yamaha finished fifth but behind fellow title contender Francesco Bagnaia, who will start third on his Ducati.

French star Quartararo holds a slender two-point lead in the standings over the Italian, with three grands prix left in the 20-race season.

Just 40 points separate the top five, with all mathematically in the title fight.

Among the contenders, Spain's Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) was fourth fastest and Australian hope Jack Miller (Ducati) eighth.

But Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati), who is 39 points adrift, could only muster 13th to put a massive dent in his slender hopes.

D.Robinson--SFF