With only 5 races to go, the pressure to gain a good starting spot increases for the three implicates riders on the hunt. As the Asian mini tour kickoff with the Japanese GP at Motegi. A track well known for its long straigts and hard braking zones; with also considering the wet track conditions, it means a significant challenge for the riders taking part on the qualifying session.

First session went underway with a massive 15th riders on track, chasing for the last 2 spots, for an opportunity to fight for pole position. First attemtps show a significant difference between riders, as the full wet conditions had a notorious impact on the riders performance. Both Pramac riders, Martin and Zarco, were up front, with a significant number of riders trying to improve their lap times.

With no bike change between half time of the session, non-stop action was present om track. As Bezzechi, Bastianini and Morbidelli attempted to gain a spot on Q2, but were unable to improve their lap times, as tricky conditions and constant yellow flags were the main adversities for the riders.

Q1 resutls:

13. Marco Bezzecchi /// 14. Franco Mobidelli /// 15. Enea Bastianini
16. Fabio Di Giannantonio /// 17. Álex Márquez /// 18. Álex Rins
19. Tetsuta Nagashima /// 20. Remy Gardner /// 21. Takuya Tsuda
22. Raúl Fernández /// 23. Cal Crutchlow ///24. Darryn Binder
25. Takaaki Nakagami

As the rain decreases its power, the riders took part of the 2nd part of the qualifying session. As the whole 12 riders tried to take advantage of the track conditions and quickly made a flying lap attempt. Johann Zarco was on provisional pole, with Brad Binder and Marc Marquez closing the front row, with considerable possibility of grid changes, on the last minutes remaining.

It was now Marc Marquez who improved to provisional pole, as the last minutes were remaining. As a significant number of red sectors were show on the telemetry. As it looked that a rider could take pole position, all attempts ended with a sloppy 3rd sector and no one was able to demote Marc Marquez from the pole position, as the Spaniard returns to the top spot of the grid for the first time, since he did on the same track, back in 2019

Q2 results:

1. Marc Marquez /// 2. Johann Zarco /// 3. Brad Binder
4. Maverick Viñales /// 5. Jorge Martin /// 6. Aleix Espargaro
7. Jack Miller /// 8. Miguel Oliveira /// 9. Fabio Quartararo
10. Luca Marini /// 11. Pol Espargaro /// 12. Francesco Bagnaia

As the grid is set, Aleix Espargaro gains a slightly advantage against his championship rivals Quartararo and Bagnaia, as the Aprillia rider starts from 6th, with the Yamaha on 9th and the Ducati on 12th. Big enphasis that is expected to have dry track conditions for tomorrow’s raceday.