Motegi MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso gives Ducati first pole since 2010

Marquez's troubled weekend, which has so far featured a crash, engine and brake problems, continued at the start of qualifying as he blew his first lap by running wide at Turn 1, then only managed eighth with his second.

At that point Rossi and Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo held a provisional first and second, having lapped in tandem for their first runs, while Dovizioso was fifth.

Marquez regrouped and grabbed provisional pole by 0.062 seconds at the start of his second run, albeit only fleetingly before Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa pipped him by 0.020s.

Dovizioso then blasted in a 1m44.502s lap to pull two tenths clear of the Hondas.

He could not improve on his second lap, but neither could Marquez, while Pedrosa crashed heavily while trying.

That left Rossi as Dovizioso's last pole threat, and he fell 0.057s of what would have been his first pole since the 2010 French Grand Prix and his 50th in the premier class.

Lorenzo ended up fifth, behind Pedrosa and Marquez.

Ducati had three bikes in the top 10, with Andrea Iannone and Cal Crutchlow sixth and eighth.

Dovizioso's result ended a Ducati pole drought stretching back to Casey Stoner's top spot for the 2010 season finale at Valencia.

It was only Dovizioso's second MotoGP pole, the other having also come at Motegi when he was with Honda in 2010.

In Q1, Aleix Espargaro had to fight hard to progress, as improvements from Alvaro Bautista and Yonny Hernandez forced him to head back on track with seconds to spare for a final attempt.

The Forward Yamaha rider did enough to set the Q1 pace, knocking Hernandez back out and heading into Q2 along with Bautista.

Further back, MotoGP returnee Katsuyuki Nakasuga qualified 17th for his latest Yamaha appearance. He had a gentle crash in practice four.

Format: Q1 for slowest 14 bikes on combined practice times sets 13th-24th, fastest two join Q2 session, which sets 1st-12th