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Motegi MotoGP qualifying
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That's the end of yet another entertaining MotoGP qualifying. Check back on Sunday to see if Zarco, or maybe Petrucci, can take his maiden victory.
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Zarco: "When I began the qualifying with the soft, the feeling was not bad, just missing some drive that I expect the extra soft can bring, even if the track is almost dry. So I was thinking maybe put the slick but maybe too dangerous. This kind of condition I love it, I did it also in Assen. We did a very good work since FP1 with the team. We were ready to fight and I'm just so happy, good emotion because when during the rookie season you expect that maybe that one time it was good enough, the pole position, I got it for the second time so perfect motivation."
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Petrucci: "Yes, was a very messy session because the track was getting dry but still not dry in all the track. It was difficult but anyway we managed to fix all the problems and in this condition, we were quite quick. Tomorrow I think it is going to rain and on the wet, I am not fast as always because I got some issues with the rear end of the bike but anyway, starting from the first row could be important for us."
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Marquez: "On the fastest lap I made a big mistake at the last corner and I lost a lot of time but also sometimes the qualy is important to be in the pole position but also important to understand a few things. This time maybe I sacrificed a little bit to attack more to understand different things because I saw that Valentino was on slicks, too. Yeah, interesting to see but anyway happy because the front row was the main target and we are there, we are in front of our main rivals so this is important."
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Despite losing out on pole position, Marquez can't be too sad about the result, as Dovizioso and Vinales are down in ninth and 14th on the grid.
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Q1 results: 1 Zarco; 2 Petrucci; 3 Marquez; 4 A. Espargaro; 5 Lorenzo; 6 Pedrosa; 7 Smith; 8 P. Espargaro; 9 Dovizioso; 10 Rins; 11 Iannone; 12 Rossi.
Zarco takes the second pole position of his rookie MotoGP season. Petrucci and Marquez will make up the front row tomorrow.
Zarco can't improve with his final flyer, Petrucci jumps into second!
Checkered flag
Chequered flag is out, but this is far from over.
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Stopwatch
Johann Zarco goes top with a 1m53.469s, seemingly out of nowhere. Marquez and Lorenzo are in second and third.
Stopwatch
Dovizioso jumps into second briefly before Pol Espargaro demotes him. That's right, a KTM is in second place.
It's not looking good for Marquez's title rival Andrea Dovizioso, he is currently down in ninth place. Four minutes left for the Ducati rider to fix that.
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Behind Marquez, the order is Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, Jorge Lorenzo and Aleix Espargaro.
Rossi is 19 seconds off the pace - that won't encourage others to switch to slicks.
It's an astonishing time from Marquez actually, as he is leading by 1.8s.
Stopwatch
Marc Marquez takes the early lead with a 1m53.903s, which is six tenths quicker than the time he topped FP4 with.
Valentino Rossi is out on slicks! That's risky from the Italian, but the track doesn't look too wet and it's not raining anymore.
Green flag
Q2 underway.
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Q2 line-up: Dovizioso; Zarco; Petrucci; Pedrosa; Iannone; A. Espargaro; Rins; Rossi; Marquez; Lorenzo; P. Espargaro; Smith.
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Q1 results: 1 P. Espargaro; 2 Smith; 3 Baz; 4 Vinales; 5 Crutchlow; 6 Bautista; 7 Barbera; 8 Lowes; 9 Rabat; 10 Abraham; 11 Aoyama; 12 Redding; 13 Nakasuga; 14 Nozane.
Checkered flag
Chequered flag is out. Espargaro tops Q1 with ease, Smith makes it a KTM 1-2 as Loris Baz misses out by 0.02s.
Crash
Karel Abraham is down at Turn 14.
KTM duo Espargaro and Bradley Smith are in first and second now, Vinales only third. Not looking good for the championship contender. Two minutes to go.
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Stopwatch
That didn't stand for long, KTM's Pol Espargaro lowers the benchmark by almost a second.
Stopwatch
First laps are in, Vinales is in the lead with a 1m56.760s. Tito Rabat a tenth behind in second.
Green flag
The 15-minute Q1 is underway, the participants are: Crutchlow; P. Espargaro; Lowes; Vinales; Nozane; Bautista; Redding; Abraham; Smith; Aoyama; Baz; Rabat; Barbera; Nakasuga.
MotoGP doesn't have a full-time Japanese rider this year but on home soil, there are three wildcard entries. Out of the trio, Yamaha tester Katsuyuki Nakasuga is the only one who was originally planned to race at Motegi. He is joined by 21-year-old Kohta Nozane, filling in for the ill Jonas Folger at Tech 3, while Honda test rider Hiroshi Aoyama will replace Jack Miller, the Australian breaking his leg in a training accident.
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Rainy conditions have not been too kind to Yamaha so far, especially Maverick Vinales, who will have to fight his way through Q1. Valentino Rossi made it to Q2 automatically but has suffered a small crash in FP4.
After a wet FP1, FP2, FP3 and FP4, can you guess the conditions in qualifying? Here's a hint: It's not dry.
Welcome everyone to live coverage of the MotoGP qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
By: Matt Beer
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