Álvaro Bautista and Takaaki Nakagami saved in Q1, Q2 can now start. Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Márquez are obviously the favorites based on their tests. The Italian finished top of the combined times, while the Spaniard dominated FP4 and is still extremely strong in qualifying. He is all the more motivated as Japan is the only circuit on which he has never won pole. However, he fell at the end of FP4 and therefore only has one machine. He must therefore not make any mistakes, otherwise his session will end.
Cal Crutchlow could, for his part, create a surprise as he was at the forefront throughout the weekend. Johann Zarco also performed well, while the two Official Yamaha riders were further behind. The Suzukis are also a little behind.
Who will take the sixteenth pole position of the season? Response from 07:35 a.m. French time.
|
Motegi MotoGP™ |
2017 |
2018 |
|
FP1 |
1'55.418 Marc Marquez (see here) |
1'45.358 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
FP2 |
1'54.877 Andrea Dovizioso (see here) |
1'48.136 Dani Pedrosa |
|
FP3 |
1'55.254 Marc Marquez (see here) |
1'45.107 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
FP4 |
1'54.581 Marc Marquez (see here) |
1'45.531 Marc Marquez |
|
Qualification 1 |
1'55.258 Pol Espargaro (see here) |
1'45.429 Alvaro Bautista |
|
Qualification 2 |
1'53.469 Johann Zarco (see here) |
1'44.590 Andrea Dovizioso |
|
Warm Up |
1'56.719 Marc Marquez (see here) |
|
|
Course |
Marquez, Dovizioso, Petrucci (see here) |
|
|
All time lap record |
1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo 2015 |
The sky seems to be holding steady and the pilots will be able to carry out their session in the dry. Honda drivers, Marc Márquez et Dani Pedrosa, are the first to enter the track. Valentino Rossi establishes the reference time in 1'45.804, ahead of Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller, Johann zarco et Alex Rins.
Marc Márquez is ninth but immediately raises the tone to take the best time on the next lap in 1'45.183. He immediately went through Andrea Iannone then by Cal Crutchlow who thus seizes the provisional pole.
Takaaki Nakagami is the victim of a technical problem and can only leave mid-session, when everyone returns for the end of the first run.
Everyone comes out for the last five minutes. At this stage, the classification is of this order: Cal Crutchlow always ahead Marc Marquez before Andrea Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone et Valentino Rossi. Then Johann zarco, Maverick Vinales, Alvaro Bautista, Jack Miller et Alex Rins complete the top 10. Finally, Dani Pedrosa et Takaaki Nakagami occupy eleventh and twelfth places.
Many drivers improve, and at the end of this first flying lap, it's Jack Miller who takes first place in front Cal Crutchlow et Johann zarco, but the Australian made a mistake right after. In the last minute, zarco is ahead by three tenths and can take pole position. Unfortunately, he finished second by 68 thousandths. However, he finished as the best Yamaha rider since Maverick Vinales is seventh and Valentino Rossi ninth.
Meanwhile, Andrea Dovizioso has taken pole position and no one is coming to take it from him. The Italian therefore has the last word in front of the Frenchman as well as Jack Miller. The second line is then composed of Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone et Marc Márquez who only finished sixth. Will the Spaniard be able to come back to compete for victory at Dovizioso race ? See you tomorrow to get the answer.
Q2 ranking:
1 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 309.8 1'44.590
2 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 304.8 1'44.658 0.068 / 0.068
3 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 306.3 1'44.727 0.137 / 0.069
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 308.2 1'44.820 0.230 / 0.093
5 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 305.8 1'44.832 0.242 / 0.012
6 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 306.2 1'44.889 0.299 / 0.057
7 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 308.2 1'45.140 0.550 / 0.251
8 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 305.2 1'45.225 0.635 / 0.085
9 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 306.2 1'45.265 0.675 / 0.040
10 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati 306.9 1'45.396 0.806 / 0.131
11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 307.8 1'45.519 0.929 / 0.123
12 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 299.5 1'46.168 1.578 / 0.649
