Marquez tops a crazy MotoGP Saturday at Motegi

MotoGP 2022 – Round 16 – Motegi
Qualifying Reports/Results

After a tough, tough run for Honda, Marc Marquez gave the factory plenty of reasons to smile on home turf as he danced through the rain to head the grid with a couple of tenths in hand. What will a likely dry race on Sunday bring? We don’t know yet, and Marquez says he doesn’t either. But Saturday was a statement.

Marc Marquez- P1

“Today is an amazing day, we must celebrate and enjoy it! I knew I could be fast in these conditions, and I had to take the maximum profit from it. It’s good to return to pole, to be on the front row at Honda’s home circuit – they deserve it because they are working very hard. Of course, it is just a pole position and it is in the wet – but coming from where we are, it’s really important to get these smaller achievements. If it’s dry tomorrow, we will come back to our reality but no matter what I am sure I will enjoy the first laps. I want to say thank you to HRC and to the Repsol Honda Team for continuing to support and believe in me, we are coming.”

The highest starting title challenger is Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) on the outside of the second row. Points leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) starts ninth, on the edge of the third. And completing the perfect straight line of the top three title hopefuls all hurrying into Turn 1 in a row comes Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) down in 12th.

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP), meanwhile, crashed on Friday to dent his place on the combined timesheets and then slid out in Q1, so he’ll start P15. One may need to buckle up for quite a Sunday afternoon…

It was certainly a dramatic Saturday. After FP3 was cancelled due to adverse weather and limited daylight time, qualifying got underway for the premier class a little later than scheduled, but the show did not disappoint as the rain abated just enough. Marquez’ display was a stunner, and the last challenger keeping the fight going to the flag was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as he put in a couple of red sectors. In the end, the South African couldn’t quite complete the deposition and he lines up in P3, but he takes his first MotoGP front row. Given the charge we saw only seven days ago, that promises much once the lights go out.

Between Marquez’ goosebump-inducer and BB33’s little piece of history made in third, Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) went from Q1 to second on the grid and ensures Ducati’s roll of 36 races in a row with a bike on the front row keeps going.

Aprilia Racing emerged as the factory team with the best positions on aggregate, with Maverick Viñales in P4 ahead of Q1 graduate Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro in P6. Viñales was another whose first couple of sectors looked to be on to ruin Marquez’ Honda fairytale, but it just came up short.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) had an uncharacteristic run in Q2 to end up P7, aiming higher on race day, and the man of the wet weather masterclass in Lombok, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), had a tip off that stopped his pace converting into more than P8 on the grid. Then comes Quartararo, who is top Yamaha but will want to remain top title contender by the flag – and with his closest rivals in a straight line right behind him.

Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) completes the top ten, ahead of Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), who has taken a step forward this weekend, and Bagnaia in that lowly 12th. In the dry, however, what’s the biggest bet anyone would make against Pecco of late…?

Johann Zarco – P2

“Very very happy, an important front row, considering the day I had today as I risked starting eleventh. I have a good pace both in the wet and in the dry, we can do well.”

Brad Binder – P3

“Super-happy to have the opportunity to start from the front row, my first one, especially in the wet. The morning did not start well with a silly crash but I knew if I would keep pushing during the day then I’d get there. I went for it on that last lap and made another mistake that cost me time but kept going and made my first front row, so I can’t complain! It is important to start as far forward in MotoGP as possible and today we did a good job.”

Maverick Vinales – P4

“Extremely important qualifiers. We always have the potential in the race but a spot on the first or second row is the minimum goal to turn good pace into a good result. In this respect, I’m satisfied. With this crazy weather, staying focused was important. I am highly motivated and I’m confident that we’ll be able to ride a good race tomorrow, battling at the front. Tyre choice will be fundamental with such limited data available if the track is dry. In any case, I’ll push from the start and if I have a shot, I won’t pull any punches.”

Jorge Martín – P5

“I’d say I can be very happy, We could have started really behind but instead we did a great job. I am really satisfied and very excited for tomorrow.”

Aleix Espargaro – P6

“I’m optimistic. Today wasn’t easy – the conditions, the waiting, the importance of qualifying well – all factors that must be managed. We came through with heads held high, with a good position and, quite frankly, with a good feeling in the wet which is certainly not my favourite terrain. This, along with the position as compared with Fabio and Francesco, makes me optimistic. However, we have only done 50% of the job. We still need to do the other 50% which is doing a good start. Overtaking is not easy here and we also won’t have much information to base our tyre choice on. The analysis done in the garage will make the difference, but I feel ready without a doubt.”

Jack Miller – P7

“In qualifying, I suffered a lot from the lack of grip on the front: I risked crashing on several occasions, and that’s why I couldn’t be fast. Starting from the third row is definitely not ideal for tomorrow’s race, but the bike is working well, and I am ready for any conditions. Many riders with a good race pace will start behind me, so we can aim for a good result.”

Miguel Oliveira – P8

“I had good speed and good potential in Q2 and on that specific lap but it ended on the ground in Turn 9! A shame but I’m confident for tomorrow. It has been tricky to prepare for the race but let’s see.”

Fabio Quartararo – P9

“I expected much better. We’re still finding our way in the wet at this track. The feeling is good, but how to make the lap time is difficult. Our gap to first in the wet has gone down a bit, but not enough. We didn’t have so much dry track time this weekend, so we’re discussing the plan for tomorrow, and most of all the tyres. Both tyres, soft and medium, are working well, so let’s see. It will be interesting to see who will pick which tyre and what happens in terms of tyre degradation. This race will not be an easy job.”

Luca Marini – P10

“It wasn’t the qualifying I was hoping for: the grip was very strange, different from what we found this morning in the FP2, always in the rain. I have never been able to really push at 100%, when I tried, I always went wide in braking without being able to do anything to avoid it. We continue to work, even in the wet, not only for tomorrow’s race, which should be dry, but also for the next GPs. This type of conditions are not unusual for the races outside Europe.”

Pol Espargaro – P11

“Today I was feeling good in the morning before the crash. It can happen in the wet because the conditions are always changing and the line is very small. The distance between a good lap and a crash is very small in the wet, but still I felt like I could be fast in Qualifying. Then everything changed in the afternoon with the conditions and the bike wasn’t feeling like before, I even stopped to change the rear tyre to see if that was the problem but it didn’t change anything. It’s a shame because we had a lot of potential, but let’s see what happens on Sunday. Congratulations to Marc and the whole team, he did something impressive today.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P12

“Unfortunately, this year we still can’t be as competitive as last year in the wet. Something is not working as it should, and we need to analyse today’s data well to understand exactly the problem. In qualifying, I had no feeling with the bike, and I couldn’t ride as I wanted to. Tomorrow’s race could be held in dry conditions, and, in this case, we know we are competitive because in FP1 yesterday, we were already able to find a good setup for the race. Tomorrow’s strategy will be to get a good start and push immediately. Even if I start from the back, I aim to fight for the win. I have already made some great comebacks in the past, so tomorrow we will try again.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P13

“A fairly difficult Saturday, considering yesterday’s single session and today’s rain we missed important kilometres to get the right confidence. That said, we have almost achieved the Q2 and this is a good news. I wasted my last attempt before the checkered flag: I made a mistake at the first corner and I went wide. Too bad, I was in any case at the limit. We make the most of the position at the start, the fast riders that I will have close to me on the grid and we try to move up the rankings as much as possible.”

Franco Morbidelli – P14

“It was a complicated day because of the rain. The programme changed. FP3 was cancelled, so we couldn’t make the modifications that we wanted to make. We needed to stay still and go into qualifying with some known issues. But anyway, we tried to maximise in qualifying. I think we did a good job, but it was not enough to get into Q2. Maybe a harder front tyre would have helped us. We really have to squeeze the performance in braking here, and with the soft tyre I couldn’t really do it. I think our potential was a bit higher today, but anyway it looks like we can fight for top positions.”

Enea Bastianini – P15

“I was confident for the afternoon because we were quick in the morning in wet conditions. The crash ruined our plans as without it I would have gone for another quick lap attempt. I didn’t do anything wrong at turn five, even data confirmed it. I think we can do well tomorrow anyway; I will try to stay close to the best riders and move up quickly.”

Fabio DiGiannantonio – P16

“The feeling was good this morning, I had fun in the rain. Then conditions worsened and in qualifying I unfortunately didn’t have the same feeling with the front-end, especially under braking. We did a good job in the end: in Q1 there were a lot of strong riders in the rain, and it was difficult to make it into Q2. We can do well in the race, so we must prepare at our best during warm up.”

Álex Márquez – P17

“Second day here in Japan and we had an opportunity, but we didn’t take our chance. We were quite good in the morning in rainy conditions, we had good pace and a good feeling. Later on, we had the issue of delays in our qualy, so went straight into Q1 and Q2, and in Q1 I didn’t feel very good from the beginning. Compared to the morning the feeling was much worse, there was no grip on the rear and it was difficult to manage. I’m sad and angry because it was a big opportunity, but we need to keep going as tomorrow will be dry. We need to have a good warm-up and then push in the race until the last lap.”

Alex Rins – P18

“In qualifying I did one long run, as did everybody, and I was beginning to feel better in the conditions. I slowed up a little bit to allow the tyres to cool before a final push, but in those final laps there were yellow flags and it cost me the chance to get further up the grid. However, despite starting from 18th, I will do what I know I can; I’ll try to get a strong start and use my good dry pace to come through and make passes, I want to reward the amazing fans by giving my absolute all.”

Remy Gardner – P20

“We had a really good FP2 this morning which is a positive thing. The bike felt different in the afternoon, maybe because of the rain. I did not have much rear grip and I was unable to ride like this morning. It is a shame that we did not have a FP3 because it would have been good to understand better what we needed to do for qualifying, but it is like it is. Tomorrow we will have to push a lot because it will be a tough race for sure, so we will have to adapt to the conditions and give our best.”

Takuya Tsuda – P21

“I haven’t had much experience in rain conditions with the GSX-RR, so I tried to learn how to best to ride in the wet following advice from the team. I feel I made a step in the right direction, and I’m quite happy with my performance. It sounds like the weather will be better tomorrow, so I’ll try to show the best performance possible and enjoy my last home race with this great team.”

Raul Fernandez – P22

“Quite wet weather, right?! The day was challenging with the track conditions but I feel pretty happy about my day as I am feeling good both in dry and wet. I made a small mistake in qualifying but it is ok. I am really happy to be back in Japan, and whether it rains or not tomorrow, I’m looking forward to the race.”

Cal Crutchlow – P23

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the result in Qualifying today. I think we showed a good pace in the rain. First of all, I chose the wrong front tyre for this session. I saw the amount of water and though the soft front tyre would be ok, but it was too weak in the braking. But anyhow, I was able to make a good lap, which would put me in a good position on the grid, that I would have been quite happy with. But the yellow flags were out, I didn’t understand the rule that the whole lap got cancelled. I slowed down in the sector to make sure I didn’t better that sector, but unfortunately, the whole lap got cancelled. I continued my lap and made not a bad lap time. I had four yellow flags in the session, so every lap that I did was cancelled essentially, so I was obviously disappointed to be in the back row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. But the team did a good job today, I’m pleased with the performance of the bike. We can definitely improve. Overall, I’m happy enough. We just need to get a good start tomorrow and see what we can do for the race.”

Darryn Binder – P24

“Today has been a really tricky day with FP2 this morning in full wet and unfortunately, due to the heavy rain, they cancelled FP3, so we went directly into Q1. I honestly, really struggled. I did only three laps and on the fourth lap I had a small crash. I managed to get the bike going and come back to the box to get out again, but I could get in only one more timed lap at the end and never improved. I’m a bit disappointed, I expected a lot more after FP2 this morning. I didn’t feel too bad in the rain, but in Qualifying I seemed to struggle a bit more, I think it could have been because there was more water on track than this morning. I’m not entirely happy, especially after I had a strong day yesterday in the dry and I wanted to at least try to get a good grid position for tomorrow, as it’s expected to be dry. Anyway, it is what it is and we just have to do our best in the race tomorrow.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P25

“It was a tough second day; the conditions were pretty tricky, there were some delays and we didn’t have an FP4. After the morning session, we went straight to Q1 and it was pretty tough conditions. I had a small crash before the first corner, I lost the front and we lost the chance to make a time attack. I swapped bikes for the last couple of minutes, but it was too late. Let’s see what happens tomorrow, hopefully we can have a good day. In dry conditions, hopefully we can make a good start and recover some positions during the race. I want to enjoy it.”

2022 Motegi MotoGP Qualifying Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings

Moto2

Heavy rain hammered the Mobility Resort Motegi just minutes into Q2, leading to a delay of more than 90 minutes before the field was let loose again. But despite having to re-acclimatise to the conditions, Canet charged to pole by 0.333, with Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up) and Jake Dixon (Shimoku GASGAS Aspar team) joining him on the front row. The top two in the World Championship, however, are much further back as Sunday is puts plenty on the line in the intermediate class.

2022 Motegi Moto2 Qualifying Results

Moto2 Championship Points Standings

Moto3

Leopard Racing’s Tatsuki Suzuki secured a cherished home Moto3 pole at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, and on his birthday no less.

The Japanese rider got the job done on Honda home turf, taking three tenths out of the field in a very wet Q2. Rookie Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) made a late dash to take second, with title contender Sergio Garcia (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) completing the front row – but despite two crashes. His teammate and Championship leader Izan Guevara took P9, which puts him behind key rivals.

The conditions were wet, wet, wet on Saturday and that added to the challenge as many in the field, including Guevara, ride the track for the first time. The number 28 does have that 33-point buffer, but most of his key rivals line up ahead: Garcia is third, and home hero Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) heads the second row, just ahead of the rider he’s chasing in the standings for third: Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing).

Joel Kelso has work to do from P22 but will hopefully be in the points.

The last Japanese rider to win in any class at Motegi was Hiroshi Aoyama in 250cc in 2006. Will Suzuki or Sasaki be the next?

2022 Motegi Moto3 Qualifying Results

Moto3 Championship Points Standings

2022 Motegi MotoGP Time Schedule
(AEST)

2022 MotoGP Calendar