Motegi MotoGP: Marquez leads delayed morning warm-up
Marc Marquez led the way in a shortened and delayed wet morning warm-up session for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The warm-up sessions for all three classes were delayed when Moto3 rider Andrea Migno left a significant amount of oil on the track during the opening session of the morning.
That meant MotoGP warm-up, originally scheduled to begin at 0940 local time, did not begin until 1115, and was shortened from the usual 20 minutes to 15.
Setting the quickest time was works Honda rider Marquez, on a 1m56.719s, to go a little over four tenths clear of second-place man Aleix Espargaro aboard the Aprilia.
A late improvement put Suzuki man Alex Rins third, ahead of Ducati GP17 trio Jorge Lorenzo, Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso.
Poleman Johann Zarco could no better than 14th on the Tech 3 Yamaha, two places behind lead works rider Valentino Rossi and a place ahead of Maverick Vinales on the second Movistar-backed machine.
Dani Pedrosa struggled to 19th-fastest on the second of the Repsol Hondas.
Tyre restrictions for the race
As a safety precaution, Michelin has ruled that all riders must use the medium wet front tyre for the race, the hardest of the two available compounds.
Riders will be free to use either the soft or extra-soft wet rear tyre.
Despite the delay to the schedule, the MotoGP race is set to begin as scheduled at 1400 local time, and will be run over the full distance of 24 laps.
Moto3 will begin at 1155, run over a reduced distance of 13 laps, while the Moto2 race will start at 1300 and run for 15 laps.
Warm-up results:
Pos. | # | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'56.719 | |
2 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'57.125 | 0.406 |
3 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'57.215 | 0.496 |
4 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'57.303 | 0.584 |
5 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'57.435 | 0.716 |
6 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'57.473 | 0.754 |
7 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'57.493 | 0.774 |
8 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'57.554 | 0.835 |
9 | 31 | Kohta Nozane | Yamaha | 1'58.023 | 1.304 |
10 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 1'58.115 | 1.396 |
11 | 76 | Loris Baz | Ducati | 1'58.141 | 1.422 |
12 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'58.364 | 1.645 |
13 | 22 | Sam Lowes | Aprilia | 1'58.382 | 1.663 |
14 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Yamaha | 1'58.424 | 1.705 |
15 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 1'58.451 | 1.732 |
16 | 21 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | 1'58.708 | 1.989 |
17 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'58.723 | 2.004 |
18 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Honda | 1'58.943 | 2.224 |
19 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1'58.959 | 2.240 |
20 | 7 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | 1'58.999 | 2.280 |
21 | 38 | Bradley Smith | KTM | 1'59.515 | 2.796 |
22 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati | 2'00.200 | 3.481 |
23 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati | 2'00.356 | 3.637 |
24 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 2'01.902 | 5.183 |
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