It was an extraordinary qualifying session for Danilo Petrucci, who secured second place on the grid for this afternoon's Japanese Grand Prix, giving his Octo Pramac Racing team the fourth front row start after Barcelona, Assen and Germany.
The rain gave riders a small respite after Friday's downpours, but the circuit remained wet and slippery, forcing the riders to undertake qualifying with wet tyres.
Petrucci, who went directly into Q2 after securing P6 in FP2, started very strong and after the first run was already in second place.
The track started to dry out and as such lap-times were dropping, so he returned to the circuit and pushed even harder.
After the T2 on his last lap he was the fastest on track, but a small mistake caused him to lose precious tenths and he was forced to settle for P2 ahead of championship leader, Marc Marquez.
โI'm very happy because I didn't expect it,โ he said. โThis morning the feeling wasn't perfect and I couldn't be as fast as I hoped. In qualifying we made a very good strategy by making the most of the time available."
"It's a pity that I made a mistake on one of the last corners otherwise I could have finished with the pole position. But it doesn't matter. The front row start is very good and starting ahead is very important in this circuit. I am very confident for tomorrowโ.
