MotoGP Japanese GP: Live commentary and updates from Motegi

Marquez has set another fastest lap but Martin is flying too. The lead pair is half a second quicker than the rest! And the gloves are slowly coming off....

It looks like a proper two-horse race between Martin and Marquez at the moment, with Bez some distance behind. Rather like the championship fight, actually. 

Marc is now looking more serious about a move on Martin. At this stage, it really doesn't look like the Ducati has a major issue with the hard rear.  That said, the next Borgo Panigale machine is his brother's in ninth. 

Marc Marquez, meanwhile, is within three tenths of Martin, with Bezzecchi watching on a second further back. Bastianini is all on his own in fourth now, with the next group featuring Fernandez, Ogura, Acosta, Moreira and Alex Marquez. 

Alex M has now registered his second long lap. That has put him down to ninth. 

While they're holding station at the front, there's a real gap developing between Bezzecchi in third and Bastianini in fourth.  It's a couple of second now. 

We have the official confirmation that all riders are on the hard rear tyre. So much for any risky strategies. But you sense that the riders are taking a cautious pace as this remains a journey into the unknown. 

Alex Marquez looked racy in fourth, but he's now taken the first of his long lap penalties.  Luca Marini's factory Honda deserves a special mention too, though more for its retro livery than the Italian's 11th place. 

Bezzecchi just set fastest lap in third, but up front it just looks like early sparring. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio, a little sore after yesterday's crash, has gone backwards in a big way from the second row. He is currently 13th. 

While we were typing that, Acosta lost two spots. Make that three!

There's no change at the front as the riders settle in, so let's look a little further down. Enea Bastianini in sixth leads Raul Fernandez and then Ogura, who is the biggest winner from the start after making up three spots.  Francesco Bagnaia and Diogo Moreira round out the top 10. 

We're counting down now for the real and final tyre information - it won't be long now!

Two riders already know it's going to be a tough afternoon regardless of their tyre choice. Alex Marquez has a double long lap penalty for his part in the lap one accident in the sprint, and Johann Zarco also picked one up for trying to restart his bike trackside in the warm-up.

Trackhouse boss Davide Brivio is "curious" about whether anybody will go with the medium rear tyre. The feeling is that hard is the logical choice, and that's what the timing screens are indicating at this early stage. It's almost a shame if the medium doesn't offer a performance advantage, as that could make things more interesting. Especially for riders wanting to take a risk from further back on the grid - for example local fan favourite Ai Ogura, who will have to go from 11th. 

Here's how the riders will line up for the race.

Grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Time	km/h
1	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	89		Aprilia	1'42.371	168.832
2	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93		Ducati	+0.110 1'42.481	168.651
3	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37		KTM	+0.122 1'42.493	168.632
4	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72		Aprilia	+0.159 1'42.530	168.571
5	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	+0.175 1'42.546	168.544
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	+0.257 1'42.628	168.410
7	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23		KTM	+0.298 1'42.669	168.342
8	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	+0.370 1'42.741	168.224
9	D. Moreira Team LCR	11		Honda	+0.545 1'42.916	167.938
10	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	+0.547 1'42.918	167.935
11	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79		Aprilia	+0.562 1'42.933	167.911
12	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	+0.688 1'43.059	167.705
13	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63		Ducati	+0.636 1'43.007	167.790
14	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21		Ducati	+0.765 1'43.136	167.580
15	S. Chantra Honda HRC	15		Honda	+0.825 1'43.196	167.483
16	L. Marini Honda HRC	10		Honda	+0.907 1'43.278	167.350
17	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	+1.028 1'43.399	167.154
18	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54		Ducati	+1.048 1'43.419	167.122
19	M. Viñales Tech 3	12		KTM	+1.234 1'43.605	166.822
20	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43		Yamaha	+1.440 1'43.811	166.491
21	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	+1.525 1'43.896	166.354
22	T. Razgatlioglu Pramac Racing	7		Yamaha	+1.660 1'44.031	166.138
View full results

Will those fans get wet? Chances are slim that they'll need to get their ponchos out, but apparently a little rain at the end of the race is not completely out of the question. 

A great many fans are in the house at Motegi, armed with the usual crazy paraphernalia. One hopes the Pedro Acosta fan dressed up as a shark will make another appearance. The full weekend crowd figure, by the way, is a record 120,000.

The extended warm-up session this morning will feed heavily into the choice between the 'recommended' hard and the medium. Does the medium offer better performance to counter reduced durability? Does the Ducati hate the hard tyre? These ideas took a bit of a knock when Ducati rider Marc Marquez went fastest in the warm-up by around half a second...

The temperature is just one of many factors MotoGP's finest minds will be mulling over as the riders get set for the start at the top of the hour.  Because if you haven't heard, this is anything but a normal Sunday on the tyre front. Michelin has banned the use of its soft rear tyre following dramas in the sprint, and recommended the reinforced hard tyre. 

It's a benign 20 degrees at Motegi at the moment, with the track temperature approaching 30. That makes it a bit cooler than yesterday's intriguing sprint race, which was won by Marc Marquez. 

Good day, wherever you are in the world - it's time for one of MotoGP's favourite classics: the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi! This is Richard Asher taking you through the live text coverage.