Johann Zarco shocked for a last minute pole position in the Motul Grand Prix of Japan - his second in the permier class - taking the honour late in the session and no further laps able to challenge the Frenchman.

Danilo Petrucci took second as another to navigate the wet-but-drying track conditions well, with reigning Champion Marc Marquez completing the front row after gambling on slicks at the end of the session.

With a dry line beginning to appear by the start of MotoGP Q2 session, it was the KTMs of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith moving through to join the top ten in the shootout – and Valentino Rossi sending immediate shockwaves through the field as he headed out on slicks straight away. That would prove the wrong decision, and the nine-time World Champion was then forced back in to switch.

Marquez, meanwhile, was 1.6 seconds clear at the top when he decided to try slicks – despite a moment on the wet tyres on what would prove his fastest lap.

That left a target on P1 for many in the field still pushing hard on wets, with Zarco best able to take the challenge to the reigning Champion and Petrucci then taking second – with Marquez therefore locking out the front row.

Heading the second row and fulfilling his Friday target is Aleix Espargaro, who just missed out on lining up further forward in the latter stages of his last lap, with Jorge Lorenzo taking fifth on his final push and Dani Pedrosa locking out Row 2.

The KTMs were next up, with Pol Espargaro initially taking a provisional front row before times began to further tumble, and by the flag it was teammate Bradley Smith who just pipped the Spaniard.

The Austrian factory machines will start seventh and eighth; Espargaro only 0.034 in arrears.

Title challenger Andrea Dovizioso had a more difficult session and ended Q2 in P9, with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone taking tenth and eleventh. Rossi, after his early gamble on slicks, lines up in P12.

After going third fastest in Q1, Loris Baz will line up behind the nine-time World Champion, and just ahead of the second factory Yamaha Maverick Viñales, who had a tough Saturday. Cal Crutchlow starts fifteenth, after missing out on Q1 following a moment at the final corner on his last lap.

Qualifying result:

“I was slowing down a little bit, I looked behind and saw Cal about three seconds behind me. I wanted to not go too fast but keep the speed up,” explains Lorenzo.

“He came suddenly and completely lost control of the bike. For being the first Free Practice that risk wasn’t worth it. So we exchanged opinions a bit, he didn’t apologise at that point and said it was my fault – but he was good two hours later and came to my office to say sorry."

"It’s ok, it can happen. There are some riders that make these mistakes a little more often but this can happen, and the important thing is that he understood it was his mistake and said sorry.” Added the Majorcan

On the other hand, Crutchlow says he looks the villain and that they don’t agree on the incident. Apologising and glad Lorenzo is unharmed, the Brit nevertheless maintains a different view...

Andrea Dovizioso remains the fastest man so far at Motegi after FP3, leading the charge to Q2 ahead of title rival Marc Marquez.

Aeix Espargaro remains third, just ahead of Ducati Team’s Jorge Lorenzo.

The biggest news saw Italian Valentino Rossi dig deep after a tough time for the Yamaha factory bikes in the wet on Friday, and the nine-time World Champion managed to get into the top ten and then the top five.

Teammate Maverick Viñales was the big name left out, and the Spaniard will head through Q1.

Johann Zarco goes through once more in P6, ahead of a positive weekend so far for Andrea Iannone in seventh. Danilo Petrucci, after a difficult Aragon, was back in the mix in eighth.

Dani Pedrosa went safely through in P9, with Alex Rins the final automatic entrant to Q2 after proving one of the 12 riders to improve his time on Saturday morning – making it both Hamamatsu factory machines moving through.

Q2 Result:

“I think more than anything specific we’ve improved, I’m getting more and more comfortable,” says Espargaro.

“And having a race like we did in Aragon, fighting with the guys in front, gives you a lot of confidence.  The wet has never been bad for us, but it’s not my strong point."

"But here there’s a lot of grip and the Aprilia works well; I’m feeling comfortable. It’s a shame I had a bit of a scare and lost some time at the end, but we had two good sessions and want to keep improving." He added

"I’ve not used the extra soft tyre because it seemed a bit useless today, but that means there could be margin to improve tomorrow when we try it."

Espargaro says there’s also margin to improve elsewhere, with the team working to maximise everything they can.

“We’re missing something we still need to improve with the bike and we’re juggling engines, trying to get the maximum in every session."

"We’ll see what we can use tomorrow because it seems like it might not be the one we used today. But we tried to push today, then hopefully tomorrow we can get onto the first two rows in qualifying – and why not fight for the podium."

With Espargaro’s pace far more than simply a one-off lap in each session and the rain looking set to remain, it could be a big opportunity for the Spaniard – who is realistically optimistic about the possibility of a rostrum finish: “Over two sessions and 20 laps we’ve always been near the front. You have to keep your feet on the ground but we’ve been there in FP1 and FP2.”

source: motogp.com