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Motegi MotoGP qualifying
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With that, we're wrapping up our coverage of MotoGP qualifying at Motegi. Dovizioso won another battle against Marquez, but tomorrow could be the end of the 2018 title fight.
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Dovizioso: "Our bike worked very well in this track and is a good track for my riding style. We did what we expected, I am really happy in the way we work because we start with a good base but we were able to improve a little bit this afternoon, make a really good laptime in qualifying. That laptime, after this morning, I have the feeling to be possible for the 44.6s, 44.5s, and I did it. Marc has a really good pace for the race so it will be I think a hard battle also because there is some other riders with good pace."
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Zarco: "Good lap for sure, I think I missed the pole position in the last chicane. I got a problem to shift down from third to second gear and that is maybe I lost a few thousandths of a second. Second place, it is just so good, I am so happy. From FP1, first exit, I was fast and now again I can show to myself and see also that I like the track and I can push it is working well. Tomorrow if we have a dry race, need to use this second place to try to maybe lead the read because would be a very important point to ride well this Yamaha."
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Miller: "We changed some things this weekend on the bike and a lot of it has been good but there was just one little thing with the rear shock, so we changed that back to the old style right before qualifying. Just got comfortable with it on the first tyres, made a little mistake on my second lap and I ended up doing three because I wasn't happy with how I've done. Second tyre, went all out, also not particularly happy because I know I could have gone faster. The second lap, I was like two tenths under the first sector but I got a little carried away. I gave it a try anyway."
Information
Q1 results: 1 Dovizioso; 2 Zarco; 3 Miller; 4 Crutchlow; 5 Iannone; 6 Marquez; 7 Vinales; 8 Rins; 9 Rossi; 10 Bautista; 11 Pedrosa; 12 Nakagami.
Marquez is only sixth as Iannone also beats him. The factory Yamahas are only seventh and ninth.
Dovizioso has done it, he takes his second pole position of the season. He is followed by three satellite riders Zarco, Miller and Crutchlow.
A late improvement from Zarco but he falls 0.068s short.
Crash
Now it is a crash for Miller at Turn 5.
Checkered flag
Miller's lap came out of nowhere, but he is demoted by Dovizioso as the chequered flag falls.
Jack Miller takes the lead with a 1m44.727s!
Two minutes on the clock, improvements incoming.
Crutchlow is still leading by nearly two tenths from Marquez and Dovizioso. Iannone sits fourth then it is the Yamahas of Rossi, Zarco and Vinales.
It's been another disappointing session for Pedrosa so far as he is only 11th.
It's been another disappointing session for Pedrosa so far as he is only 11th.
As the majority of the field pits, Marquez squeezes an extra lap into his first run and steals second from Dovizioso.
Stopwatch
Marquez destroys Rossi's time with a 1m45.182s, only to be demoted by Crutchlow, who does a 1m44.909s. Dovizioso and Iannone up to second and third.
Rossi and Vinales set the early pace from Miller and Zarco. Looking good for Yamaha.
Green flag
Q2 begins as Marquez leads the field onto the track.
Marquez's crashed bike was pulled into the garage during Q1, but it remains to be seen if it can be used during qualifying.
One of Marquez, Dovizioso and Lorenzo topped the past nine MotoGP qualifying sessions, and at the moment it is tough to call anyone else a favourite to take pole position. But it is MotoGP, so you can never actually know.
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Q2 line-up: Dovizioso; Crutchlow; Zarco; Marquez; Rossi; Pedrosa; Vinales; Rins; Iannone; Miller; Bautista; Nakagami.
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Q1 result: 1 Bautista; 2 Nakagami; 3 Smith; 4 P.Espargaro; 5 Petrucci; 6 Syahrin; 7 Morbidelli; 8 Abraham; 9 A. Espargaro; 10 Nakasuga; 11 Redding; 12 Simeon; 13 Luthi; 14 Guintoli; 15 Torres.
Bautista ends Q1 on top, him and local hero Nakagami make it to Q2. KTM duo Smith and Espargaro are best of the rest, both missing out by less than a tenth. Petrucci a disappointing fifth.
Checkered flag
Nakagami was temporarily in the lead but it is not Bautista in first place as the chequered flag falls.
Crash
Morbidelli crashes at Turn 12. His bike was absolutely flying!
Petrucci looked set to take the lead throughout his entire lap but in the end he misses out by 0.037s. Can he hold on to second?
Stopwatch
Smith takes the lead with a 1m45.722s, but Petrucci is set to improve as well.
Bautista moves up from ninth to second with two minutes remaining.
During the mid-session lull, the top five is Petrucci (Ducati), Nakagami (Honda), Smith (KTM), A. Espargaro (Aprilia) and Syahrin (Yamaha).
Sure it is not the overall order, but it is still cool to see five different bikes featuring at the top.
Sure it is not the overall order, but it is still cool to see five different bikes featuring at the top.
Nakagami keeps the lead after the second flying laps as well until Petrucci sets the first 1m45s laptime of the session. He now leads by two tenths.
Stopwatch
Local hero Nakagami takes the early lead with a 1m46.461s.
It's not too obvious who could make it to Q2 in this one. The biggest name is the Ducati GP18 of Danilo Petrucci, but he hasn't exactly impressed this weekend so far.
Green flag
Q1 underway.
Aside from Nakasuga's usual appearance as a Yamaha wildcard at Motegi, Suzuki is also fielding Sylvain Guintoli, the Frenchman testing a 2019-spec engine and a new aero fairing.
There is also Jordi Torres, who continues to fill in for the injured Tito Rabat.
There is also Jordi Torres, who continues to fill in for the injured Tito Rabat.
Marquez is back in his garage already before the start of Q1, which he doesn't need to take part in. However he could very well only have one bike for Q2, which is not ideal.
Information
Q1 line-up: Bautista; Morbidelli; Petrucci; Nakasuga; P. Espargaro; Nakagami; A. Espargaro; Redding; Syahrin; Simeon; Luthi; Smith; Abraham; Guintoli; Torres.
Crash
It is indeed Marquez ending FP4 on top but his session ended with a crash at Turn 9, a quite big one. He looked okay after the incident, his bike not so much.
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Unfortunately, Jorge Lorenzo has opted not to race again, as he hasn't fully recovered from his injuries yet. Alarmingly, he sounds quite pessimistic regarding his chances for next weekend's Phillip Island round as well.
He said on motogp.com: "It is almost impossible for Phillip Island. It's impossible for my wrist to recover in the few days left until then. We have to talk to the team to see if they choose a replacement for that race, and see if I'm in a position to try to get back on the bike. But I'll probably focus on trying to get back on the bike in Malaysia."
He said on motogp.com: "It is almost impossible for Phillip Island. It's impossible for my wrist to recover in the few days left until then. We have to talk to the team to see if they choose a replacement for that race, and see if I'm in a position to try to get back on the bike. But I'll probably focus on trying to get back on the bike in Malaysia."
The main topic at Motegi is that Marc Marquez could potentially seal his fifth MotoGP title, but there are no points awarded on Saturday, and it's been more the Andrea Dovizioso show so far. The Ducati rider topped both FP1 and FP3, although it is Marquez leading in FP4 with just a minute remaining.
Welcome to our live coverage of MotoGP qualifying at Motegi, the home track of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Takaaki Nakagami and Yamaha wildcard Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
By: Matt Beer
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