Johann Zarco will start tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix from the prized pole position after setting the fastest time n this afternoon's Q2 session.
With the track drying, Zarco snatched pole from marc Marquez, who, had set a good time well ahead of the field and feeling confident that pole was his, he ventured out on slicks in the final five minutes. The track was not ready for slick rubber, as Valentino Rossi had discovered, and that's when Zarco made his move.
Danilo Petrucci was second fastest, three tenths behind Zarco while Marquez managed to hang onto a place on the front row by the skin of his teeth with a lot of other riders threatening to push him back to row 2.
Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa will start from row two with Bradley Smith, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Dovizioso on row three.
While a Yamaha was on pole in the form of the Tech 3 rider, the factory Yamaha riders had a bad day with Valentino Rossi opting for slicks when the track wasn't ready for them, and then by the time he switched to wets, it was too late to get them up to temperature so he could set a competitive time.
The Doctor will therefore start from 12th with teammate, Maverick Vinales two places back in 14th.
โTodayโs results were not what we had hoped for,โ said Yamaha's Massimo Meregalli. โThe changing circumstances on the circuit in Q2 made it difficult to understand what the track conditions would be like. Valentino decided to try the slick tyres, but it turned out that, despite the drying line, it was still a bit too early for slicks. When he opted for a wet tyre for his second stint he just ran out of time to make it work.โ
โThough he improved his time significantly on his last lap, he still has to start from 12th place on the grid. Maverick was on the attack in Q1 and set a 1'55.916s on the super soft tyre. It was a shame that he missed out on advancing to Q2 by just 0.072s, because starting from the fifth row is quite challenging. Now we will assemble the data from todayโs sessions and prepare some setting tweaks we can test in tomorrowโs warm up.โ
GP of Japan โ Qualifying classification:
1. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1'53.469
2. Danilo PETRUCCI, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'53.787 +0.318
3. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team - 1'53.903 +0.434
4. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'53.947 +0.478
5. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team - 1'54.235 +0.766
6. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team - 1'54.342 +0.873
7. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'54.872 +1.403
8. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing - 1'54.906 +1.437
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team - 1'55.064 +1.595
10. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'55.483 +2.014
11. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR - 1'55.617 +2.148
12. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'57.786 +4.317
13. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'55.862 (Q1)
14. Maverick VIรALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - 1'55.916 (Q1)
15. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda - 1'55.952 (Q1)
16. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'56.292 (Q1)
17. Hector BARBERA, Reale Avintia Racing - 1'56.668 (Q1)
18. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini - 1'56.771 (Q1)
19. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'56.903 (Q1)
20. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team - 1'57.144 (Q1)
21. Hiroshi AOYAMA, EG 0,0 Marc VDS - 1'57.157 (Q1)
22. Scott REDDING, OCTO Pramac Racing - 1'57.787 (Q1)
23. Katsuyuki NAKASUGA, Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing - 1'57.861 (Q1)
24. Kohta NOZANE, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2'01.730 (Q1)
