Japanese Grand Prix Motegi MotoGP Race: Márquez untouchable and Quartararo titled best rookie

Marc Márquez qualified on pole position for the first time in the MotoGP class at Motegi, meaning he has moved into the top position in the premier class at least once at every track on the current calendar, and on a total of 20 different circuits. Mick Doohan holds the record in the premier category with 24 different tracks, followed by Valentino Rossi (21), Márquez (20) and Casey Stoner / Kevin Schwantz (18).

It's here 62ème pole position Marc Márquez its 124ème starting in the premier class, meaning he has qualified on pole in half of the races he has contested since entering the premier class in 2013. Additionally, this is the 90ème pole position for Marc Márquez in his 202nd Grand Prix, a success rate of 44,5%.

Who will be able to stop this infernal machine? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts.

Motegi MotoGP™	2018	2019
FP1	1'45.358 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)	1'45.572 Maverick Viñales (See here)
FP2	1'48.136 Dani Pedrosa (See here)	1'44.764 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP3	1'45.107 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)	1'54.710 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
FP4	1'45.531 Marc Márquez (See here)	1'48.940 Marc Márquez (See here)
Q1	1'45.429 Álvaro Bautista (See here)	1'46.695 Cal Crutchlow (See here)
Q2	1'44.590 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)	1'45.763 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm-up	1'45.409 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)	1'45.816 Marc Márquez (See here)
Course	Marquez, Crutchlow, Rins (See here)
All time lap record	1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo (2015)

Franco Morbidelli qualified in second place, equaling his best qualifying result in the MotoGP class acquired at Jerez earlier this year. In addition, this is the third departure of Morbidely first in the premier category, all obtained this year and the third time he has qualified ahead of his teammate Quarterly.

fabio quartararo completes the first line. Since his first row of his first season in MotoGP at Jerez this year, synonymous with pole position, the Frenchman has only missed the leading pack three times: Le Mans, Brno and Silverstone. If fabio quartararo wins the race in Japan (20 years and 183 days), he will be the second youngest driver to achieve this level of competition.  Fabio Quartararo must be more than 75 points ahead of Joan mir after Motegi to win the Rookie of the Year title. He is currently ahead and Mir who is his only remaining rival.

Maverick Vinales, who finished on the podium once in the MotoGP class at Motegi with a third place in 2016 on Suzuki, qualified in fourth place. This is the 13th time he has started in the first two rows of the grid this year.

With Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo et Maverick Vinales, for the fourth time this year, there are three drivers Yamaha in the category among the top four in qualifications with Catalonia, San Marino and Thailand. The last podium of the drivers Yamaha in Motegi dates back to 2015. Valentino Rossi then took second place followed by Jorge Lorenzo, third.

After passing Q1, Cal Crutchlow, who finished second last year at Motegi, qualified fifth, his best qualifying result since third on the grid at Austin earlier this year.

Jack Miller, who failed to score a point during his two MotoGP visits to Japan. He qualified sixth and is the best Ducati. This is his second consecutive sixth place.

Andrea Dovizioso, who was on pole three times at Motegi, qualified seventh. Only twice has he qualified lower on the grid at Motegi: ninth in 2017, when he battled to victory, and 13th in his rookie year in MotoGP in 2008. This is the eighth time this year that Dovizioso failed to qualify on the first two lines.

Danilo Petrucci, who finished third at Motegi in the rain in 2017, qualified in eighth position, which is the tenth time this season he has been on the first three rows of the grid but his second best qualifying result at Motegi .

Valentino Rossi, who was the first pilot Yamaha crossing the finish line last year in Motegi in fourth position, qualified in 10th place. This is the last pilot Yamaha .

At the time of the grid, a first surprise…

The Honda go in full medium and the Yamaha in medium soft. Miller is in full software. Red is the only Yamaha rider in full medium. Rabat, injured is forfeited. The wild animals are released and it is Marquez, Quartararo et Miller who took the lead. Morbidely is fifth behind Crutchlow. Vinales is sixth. Red thirteen. Quarterly pass but Márquez replica. The duel has already begun! Morbidely goes back to third.

Rossi is 14th. Márquez rings the charge and builds up a lead of a little more than a second after only two laps. The track is at 26°, the air at 21° and the sky is overcast but mild. Quarterly walks away from the duel Morbidely et Miller. These two don't do each other any favors. Dovizioso is fifth ahead Casa Particular in Viñales et Crutchlow.

Marquez leads by a second Quarterly who took the good pace of the Honda after three laps. Miller is one second behind the Frenchman who maintains behind him Morbidely et Dovi. Fabio doesn't let go, he even gets back on the leading Honda. His delay goes back to less than a second.

Márquez understands the message and achieves the best lap of this race. Here he is with a capital of 1s2 on the Yamaha Petronas. Red is twelfth, between the two official KTMs led by Pol Espargaro the Suzuki are 9 and 10. Only…

After 7 laps, the positions stand firm in front and attention shifts to the three-way fight for third place. Miller fights like a lion against Morbidely et Dovi which is therefore not the leader at Ducati. Casa Particular in Viñales sticks to the furious ones. By the way, Lorenzo is 20th… almost 19s behind his teammate in the lead.

Iannone fall at turn 11. His teammate at Aprilia Aleix Espargaró is 14th.

After 10 rounds, Marquez is in front of, Fabio at 1s1 while Morbidely goes third in front Dovi et Miller and Vinales. these three are 4s behind the official Honda. Alone Quarterly therefore stands up to Marc Marquez.

Kidneys pass Crutchlow for seventh place. Petrucci slips tenth, ahead Red. Miller let go for third place which will be played between Morbidelli, Dovi et Casa Particular in Viñales.

11 laps from the goal, Fabio mark time in front of a Márquez now 2s ahead of him. It is clear that the eight-time World Champion manages his business well.

There are 9 rounds left and Miller collapses. Here he is eighth behind Crutchlow et Kidneys. the latter attacks to join the men fighting for the last step of the podium. As for Dovizioso, he decided to fill the 3s5 that separate him from Fabio.

There are seven rounds remaining and the duel between Casa Particular in Viñales et Dovizioso, who is playing his 100th career podium, is raging. The duo is 3s2 behind Fabio which runs at 2s3 from Márquez. Morbidely closes the top 5 at Crutchlow who took over Kidneys.

5 laps from the goal, Fabio drop in pace and let go for 1s Dovi et Casa Particular in Viñales.

Red fall four laps from the goal. He was eleventh. Considering the overall results of the other Yamahas, it's more than a disappointment.

There are three rounds left and Dovi as Casa Particular in Viñales are getting dangerously close to Fabio. On the penultimate lap, the Ducati official let go Casa Particular in Viñales and takes back no less than 8 tenths from the Yamaha Petronas… But we will leave it there. Márquez takes his tenth victory, Fabio is titled best rookie, Dovizioso consolidates his second place in the championship by taking his 100th career podium and Casa Particular in Viñales takes third place in the championship Kidneys. Crutchlow is fifth to the great displeasure of Morbidely.

Japanese Grand Prix Motegi MotoGP Race: classification

Classification credit: MotoGP.com