MotoGP Japan Motegi FP1 LIVE: The three championship leaders in 40/1000 behind Jack Miller!

Just with the three main contenders for the world crown grouped in 17 points with 5 events remaining, fabio quartararo, Francis Bagnaia et Alex Espargaro, the MotoGP World Championship is more open than ever, without even mentioning the fourth man who is emerging and could well come and take part in the final confrontation!

In view of everyone's current dynamics, Francis Bagnaia appears to be the strong man of the championship. Author of six victories in the last seven races he has completed, the Ducati official does not take half measures and displays a certain serenity in the face of the current leader, fabio quartararo, winner three times who only precedes him by 10 points after having a lead of 91 units over the Turinese in Germany.

In third position, only 7 points behind the Borgo Panigale driver, Alex Espargaro has only one success in Argentina but relies on unfailing consistency, being the only driver to have scored points at each Grand Prix. Faced with his two tough opponents, it might be a bit tight to claim the world title, and the highest step of the podium would once again be welcome, both morally and in terms of points accounting.

Before Aragon, we thought that the crown would be played out at three, but that was to forget the three trophies already won by Enea Bastianini, now completed by a fourth victory in Alcañiz, which now brings the future teammate closer to Francis Bagnaia 48 points from the summit after an eventful Spanish round to say the least.

A general situation that is all the more uncertain as the 16th round of the World Cup will take place for the 22nd time on a Twin Ring Motegi circuit not visited since 2019 and in still very unpredictable weather conditions.

Without even knowing how the surface has evolved in three years, we can note that of the 24 registered riders, no less than 10 of them have never ridden on it in MotoGP (Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, Jorge Martin, Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Darryn Binder, Marco Bezzecchi, Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner).

Two wild cards were to complete the troop, the HRC test pilot Tetsuta Nagashima, the test rider of Team Suzuki Ecstar, Takuya Tsuda but the package of Joan Mir forced the Suzuki team to register Takuya Tsuda as a replacement driver. “It is an honor to join Team Suzuki Ecstar for this special weekend in Japan. I've been a member of the test team since the start of the project and have already participated in a few races for the team, but this weekend will be something different; This is Suzuki's last MotoGP race in Japan and I can't wait to ride the GSX-RR in front of the home crowd. »
Still on the injured pilots chapter, Takaaki Nakagami has been declared fit to participate in FP1, after which he will be reviewed by the doctors.

fabio quartararo still suffering a little from his crash in Aragon but said it should not hinder his driving.

While waiting to discover more, as the 25 pilots prepare for this first free practice session extended to 75 minutes on a track which has already received two light showers this afternoon but seems dry again with temperatures of 26° in the air and 28° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Past references:

Motegi MotoGP™	2019	2022
FP1	1'45.572 Maverick Viñales (See here)	1'44.509 Jack Miller (See here)
FP2	1'44.764 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	(See here)
FP3	1'54.710 Danilo Petrucci (See here)	(See here)
FP4	1'48.940 Marc Márquez (See here)	(See here)
Q1	1'46.695 Cal Crutchlow (See here)	(See here)
Q2	1'45.763 Marc Márquez (See here)	(See here)
Warm up	1'45.816 Marc Márquez (See here)	(See here)
Course	M. Marquez, Quartararo, Dovizioso (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo (2015)

When the red lights go out... the drivers don't delay even though the track is dry, and it's for once Alex Rins who leads the peloton, while Franco Morbidelli et fabio quartararo are the last to leave to help the Italian driver in difficulty a little.

In terms of tires, the rear medium is almost unanimous, while the choices for the front are more divided.

At the end of the first round, Marc Márquez establishes the first reference in 1'46.888 ahead Fabio Quartararo et Franco Morbidelli. The Honda rider uses the aluminum Kalex swingarm.

alex rins is immediately called back to his box for a loose fairing.

In the next passage, The Devil registered 1'46.661 before passing the baton to Jack Miller in 1'46.291 then regaining the advantage in 1'46.072.

Jack Miller regains the leadership in 1'45.903 while the first drivers are already starting to return to their boxes.

After this first salvo, the hierarchy is therefore composed of Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Fabio Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli, Marc Márquez, Miguel Oliveira, Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Cal Crutchlow, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro, Pol Espargaro, Alex Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Luca Marini, Tetsuta Nagashima, Takaaki Nakagami, Darryn Binder, Raul Fernandez, Remy Gardner and Takuya Tsuda, all scaled in 2,7 seconds.

After 20 minutes, fabio quartararo still didn't stop and regained command in 1'45.807 before returning to his box.

Raul fernandez is then displayed with a rain tire at the rear and jumps to 12th position: labeling error?

A little after the third of the session, we found three Yamahas in the top 10, a situation not seen for a long time! It’s the time when raindrops are forecast…

It doesn't turn into a downpour and everyone continues on slick tires.

At mid-session, the ranking now consists of Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, Franco Morbidelli, Marc Márquez, Miguel Oliveira, Aleix Espargaro, Cal Crutchlow, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Luca Marini, Raul Fernandez, Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, Takaaki Nakagami , Pol Espargaro, Brad Binder, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Remy Gardner, Tetsuta Nagashima, Darryn Binder and Takuya Tsuda.

Just after, alex rins lowers the benchmark to 1'45.738 equipped with soft tires front and rear. His Suzuki is equipped with small fins on the rear saddle.

Tetsuta nagashima makes a minor mistake at turn #11 while Johann zarco achieves the best time in 1'45.309, also equipped with a soft tire at the rear, just like Alex Espargaro who then takes over in 1'45.223.

Johann zarco regains the advantage in 1'45.210 29 minutes from the checkered flag.

Two strategies have therefore emerged, the drivers who continue to work for the race on worn tires, and those who have already switched to a soft rear tire to ensure a time while we remember that only FP1 and FP2 will count this week -end for direct passage to qualification 2.

fabio quartararo is part of this second category and, after having fitted a soft rear tire on his Yamaha M1, moves back to third position behind John Zarco et Alex Espargaro. In the process, the Niçois recorded 1'45.029 at the top of the table, almost 2/10 ahead of his compatriot.

Enea Bastianini is then the first driver to break the 1'45 mark, in 1'44.978, while Miguel Oliveira places his KTM in third position.

Marc Márquez climbs back to fourth position with a medium rear tire, then alex rins takes command in 1'44.961: the six manufacturers in the first seven places!

With seven minutes left in the session, everyone is now using a soft rear tire and Jack Miller achieves 1'44.660 then 1'44.509 on the handlebars of his Ducati despite having been hampered by Takuya Tsuda.

Marc Márquez then achieves the second time, Johann zarco the third, whileEnea Bastianini does a minor flip at turn #5.

Johann zarco also makes a minor mistake in turn #7, just like Darryn Binder in #5.

Meanwhile, Luca marini and Alex Espargaro enter the top 5 before Francis Bagnaia come and stand just behind your teammate.

In the end, while we expect a rainy Saturday, Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro, Luca Marini, Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro, Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Vinales are currently prequalified for Q2.

MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix FP1 results at Motegi:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com