Qualifying report
MotoGP Japanese GP
Motegi MotoGP: Dovizioso grabs pole, Marquez sixth
Andrea Dovizioso scored pole position for MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix in a typically frenetic qualifying shootout, while champion-elect Marc Marquez could manage no better than sixth place.
Jamie Klein
Edited: Oct 20, 2018, 10:36 AM
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Ducati rider Dovizioso produced a scorching lap of 1m44.590s in the dying moments of the 15-minute Q2 session to secure his second pole of 2018 and give himself the best possible chance of delaying Marquez's coronation.
Marquez, whose points lead stands at 77, cannot win the title at Motegi if he is outscored by Dovizioso.
The opening runs were led by LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, who became the first man of the weekend to breach the 1m45s barrier with his lap of 1m44.909s.
That was shaded by Marquez to the tune of a tenth when the second runs commenced, the Spaniard reduced to just one bike for qualifying after damaging his first machine in an FP4 crash.
But Marquez was immediately beaten not only by Crutchlow on the Briton's next attempt but also Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller, who briefly held pole before Dovizioso demoted the Australian to second with a time 0.069s faster.
Johann Zarco set three red sectors on his final flyer aboard the Tech 3 Yamaha, but lost out in the final sector and had to settle for second, albeit edging out Miller for the middle spot on the front row by under a tenth.
Crutchlow was shuffled down to fourth amid that action, while Marquez lost a further grid spot when Suzuki's Andrea Iannone went fifth fastest after the chequered flag.
Maverick Vinales was the best of the factory Yamahas in seventh, over half a second off pole, followed by the second Suzuki of Alex Rins and Valentino Rossi, who was a little over a tenth down on teammate Vinales.
Completing the order in Q2 were Q1 pacesetter Alvaro Bautista (Nieto Ducati), Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and local hero Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda).
Q1: Bautista fastest, Morbidelli shunts
Bautista topped the opening segment of qualifying by two tenths from Nakagami, who had led after the opening runs and was denied the top spot only once the chequered flag had fallen.
The last-minute improvement bumped KTM rider Bradley Smith out of the top two, meaning the Briton starts 13th on Sunday ahead of teammate Pol Espargaro.
Danilo Petrucci's bad weekend continued as the Pramac man could only muster the fifth-fastest time, condemning himself to 15th on the grid after a crash in FP3 denied him a chance of making it into Q2 directly.
But compatriot Franco Morbidelli suffered an even more torrid session as he suffered a spectacular crash at Turn 12 in the closing stages of the session, not long after he had jumped up to second.
The Marc VDS Honda rider, who walked away seemingly uninjured, was shuffled down to 17th on the grid behind the second Tech 3 Yamaha of Hafizh Syahrin.
Aleix Espargaro was the best of the Aprilias in 19th, followed by Yamaha wildcard Katsuyuki Nakasuga in 20th.
Suzuki tester Sylvain Guintoli qualified the 2019-spec GSX-RR in 24th, ahead of only Avintia Ducati stand-in Jordi Torres.
Q2 results:
Pos. # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 4 
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'44.590 2 5 
Johann Zarco Yamaha 1'44.658 0.068 3 43 
Jack Miller Ducati 1'44.727 0.137 4 35 
Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'44.820 0.230 5 29 
Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1'44.832 0.242 6 93 
Marc Marquez Honda 1'44.889 0.299 7 25 
Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1'45.140 0.550 8 42 
Alex Rins Suzuki 1'45.225 0.635 9 46 
Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'45.265 0.675 10 19 
Alvaro Bautista Ducati 1'45.396 0.806 11 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1'45.519 0.929 12 30 
Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'46.168 1.578
Q1 results:
Pos. # Rider Bike Time Gap Q2 19 Alvaro Bautista Ducati 1'45.429 Q2 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'45.656 0.227 13 38 
Bradley Smith KTM 1'45.722 0.293 14 44 
Pol Espargaro KTM 1'45.742 0.313 15 9 
Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'45.759 0.330 16 55 
Hafizh Syahrin Yamaha 1'45.765 0.336 17 21 Franco Morbidelli Honda 1'45.969 0.540 18 17 
Karel Abraham Ducati 1'46.072 0.643 19 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1'46.183 0.754 20 89 
Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 1'46.441 1.012 21 45 
Scott Redding Aprilia 1'46.571 1.142 22 10 
Xavier Simeon Ducati 1'46.573 1.144 23 12 
Thomas Luthi Honda 1'46.817 1.388 24 50 
Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 1'47.106 1.677 25 81 Jordi Torres Ducati 1'47.147 1.718
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