Tito Rabat completed a confidence boosting qualifying session ahead of tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix despite the fact that he will line up 19th on the Motegi grid.

Rabat's fastest lap of the weekend so far, a 1'56.903, came despite the Spanish rider making a crucial error with his qualifying strategy in the tricky conditions.

He elected to stay out in the hope that he could cool down the rear tyre enough for a faster lap on his final time attack. Rabat had been impressively ninth fastest in the earlier FP4 session.

As riders went out for the Q1 session the steady rain that had drenched the Motegi area since Friday morning had eased although track temperature failed to rise above a chilly 17 degrees.

โ€œI pushed right from the start of the session and went second fastest but then I made a mistake with my strategy,โ€ he explained. โ€œRather than come in and change the rear tyre I decided to stay out and try to slow down and cool the tyre and then go again for another fast lap. At the end of the session I had big slide on the rear and knew it was time to stop. It's a pity but despite this I feel I can do a strong race tomorrow.โ€