Superb Dovizioso gets first Ducati pole position since 2010

Superb Dovizioso gets first Ducati pole position since 2010

MotoGPâ„¢ Q2 was another frantic sprint for pole at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, with the honours taken by Andrea Dovizioso – as Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa also slotted onto the front row – despite a late crash for Pedrosa.

A new pole record of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit of 1'44.502 by Dovizioso gave Ducati Team their first pole position since Casey Stoner was on pole at Valencia in 2010.

Behind Dovizioso, Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) had provisional pole early in the session before he dropped down the timesheet, only to respond with a hot lap which left him just 0.055s behind his pole setting compatriot.

Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) was also chasing pole and was on a hot lap when he fell at turn 12 in the final stages. Nonetheless the Spaniard qualified on the front row, a quarter of a second behind Dovizioso, with three different manufacturers represented on the first line of the grid.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will launch his bid to retain the title from fourth on the grid having qualified just 0.02s behind his teammate Pedrosa.
Aragon race winner Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) qualified fifth, a 0.282s gap from pole. The second row is completed by Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) who like Dovizioso took advantage of an extra soft rear tyre.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) all qualified on row three, whilst Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) slotted into tenth place.

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) made it through from an intriguing and fiercely contested Q1 session to qualify 11th and 12th respectively. Espargaro was forced to push hard to get through from Q1 on his final lap after being put under pressure by Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) who will start 13th. **
MotoGPâ„¢ Qualifying Practice Classification

1- Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati 1’44.502
2- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha +0.055
3- Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda +0.253

1st OPEN
11- Aleix Espargaro SPA Forward Yamaha +0.813

Moto2â„¢: Pole in Japan goes to Rabat in final seconds

In Moto2â„¢ QP at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Tito Rabat grabbed pole for Sunday's race in the final seconds, ahead of Thomas Luthi and Johann Zarco on the front row.

Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) left it late to secure the top spot, recording a new pole record of the Motegi circuit of 1'50.854 on his last lap to snatch the pole from Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) by 0.033s. Zarco (AirAsia Caterham) continued his good form in third place, three tenths behind Rabat.

The impressive Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) will head the second row, in front of Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia).

Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team), his teammate Franco Morbidelli and the improving Axel Pons (AGR Team) all qualified on the third row. Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3) completed the top ten.

Ratthapark Wilairot (AirAsia Caterham) unfortunately suffered a small crash, ending his qualifying session early, but not causing any serious harm.

Moto2â„¢ Qualifying Practice Classification

1- Tito Rabat SPA Kalex 1’50.854
2- Thomas Luthi SWI Suter +0.033
3- Johann Zarco FRA Suter +0.303

Moto3â„¢: Cool Kent takes pole for Far Eastern showdown

Saturday's Moto3â„¢ QP at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan saw Danny Kent take pole, with Niccolo Antonelli and John McPhee also securing front row slots.

In perfect sunny and dry conditions at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) set a new Moto3â„¢ pole position record around the Japanese track. Having been fastest also on Friday at the venue of his first ever GP win in 2012 the Englishman produced a superb 1'56.555 lap for his first pole of 2014.

Behind Kent, Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) made an improvement in the final stages to qualify second (+0.344s) with McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG) just +0.008s further back in third.

Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) qualified fourth, whilst Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) survived a big crash to secure fifth. The second row was completed by Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team).

Championship leader Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) make up row three, despite a crash for Rins in the session. The top ten was completed by Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) who therefore heads row four.

Rins had an early fall but was able to get his Honda back to the pits where his team quickly repaired the bike. Fellow title rival Miller had a vicious highside exiting Turn 5, but was unhurt and able to quickly rejoin the session.

The final five minutes saw Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) have his second fall of the day, Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) and Matteo Ferrari (San Carlo Team Italia) also fell together but were unhurt. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Ongetta-AriAsia) crashed on his final flying lap. None of the riders were hurt in their crashes.

Moto3â„¢ Qualifying Practice Classification

1- Danny Kent GBR Husqvarna 1’56.555
2- Niccolò Antonelli ITA KTM +0.344
3- John McPhee GBR Honda +0.352