The outcome of the championship is no longer in doubt. But the epilogue of the battle between the independent pilots is, however, undecided. A trio is aiming for this access which is so important for their stable. Crutchlow, Zarco and Petrucci are thus in competition. If the first two mentioned did not leave each other for a single moment during this Friday at Motegi, the third was conspicuously absent. The fault was a failed technical challenge which relegated him to seventeenth place at the moment when the track was most favorable for setting a time…
A heartbreak for Petrux who must now rely on the elements to recover his victory. Which will not be easy, the rain always puts its grain of salt above the Motegi. Far from being counted in the general classification of this first day in Japan, the Pramac driver explains: “ we decided to take a technical gamble by adopting the Red Bull Ring settings given that the Motegi is at least as demanding in terms of braking. But we messed up ».
He insists : " we were wrong all along. And this Friday morning, we paid the price. We couldn't even show a new tire because we had so many problems. I certainly placed third during FP2, but this session was useless. Saturday morning, we will have a lot of work to do, hoping for good weather. ».
He finishes : " I don't remember having experienced such a calamitous Friday. I hope to be able to enter Q.2 at the end of FP3. But the last time I had to do Q.1 was at Le Mans. I was then the fastest in the session before registering on the first row and finishing on the podium! So we'll see ».
His teammate Jack Miller on the other hand ended his day in a good eighth position… It will be recalled that Petrucci will succeed Lorenzo within the official Ducati team in 2019.
Japanese Grand Prix, Motegi, MotoGP, J.1: times
| 1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'45.358 | ||
| 2 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'45.463 | 0.105 | 0.105 |
| 3 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'45.483 | 0.125 | 0.020 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'45.498 | 0.140 | 0.015 |
| 5 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'45.640 | 0.282 | 0.142 |
| 6 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'46.030 | 0.672 | 0.390 |
| 7 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'46.210 | 0.852 | 0.180 |
| 8 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'46.265 | 0.907 | 0.055 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'46.329 | 0.971 | 0.064 |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'46.526 | 1.168 | 0.197 |
| 11 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'46.568 | 1.210 | 0.042 |
| 12 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'46.854 | 1.496 | 0.286 |
| 13 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'46.856 | 1.498 | 0.002 |
| 14 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'46.859 | 1.501 | 0.003 |
| 15 | 89 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | Yamaha | 1'46.872 | 1.514 | 0.013 |
| 16 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'46.998 | 1.640 | 0.126 |
| 17 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'47.054 | 1.696 | 0.056 |
| 18 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'47.137 | 1.779 | 0.083 |
| 19 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'47.187 | 1.829 | 0.050 |
| 20 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Honda | 1'47.428 | 2.070 | 0.241 |
| 21 | 50 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | 1'47.537 | 2.179 | 0.109 |
| 22 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Ducati | 1'47.665 | 2.307 | 0.128 |
| 23 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'47.716 | 2.358 | 0.051 |
| 24 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | Yamaha | 1'47.726 | 2.368 | 0.010 |
| 25 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'47.833 | 2.475 | 0.107 |
| 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati |
