Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi grabbed a sensational pole position for the Japanese GP at Motegi with a scintillating lap time of 1.43'.95". 'The Doctor' was accompanied by Championship leader Marc Marquez and the current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on the front row of the grid. The Q2 began at the 'Land of rising Sun' with Marc Marquez being a clear favorite for pole, having set a great pace in FP3 and FP4. Jorge Lorenzo was given a green signal by the Doctors to take part in Qualifying, after having a heavy high side crash at Turn 2 in FP3 and being airlifted.
As the time started clicking Marc Marquez hammered down the track to draw first impressions. LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow was seen in 2nd place, only to be succeeded by Valentino Rossi. Soon after a lap, Lorenzo claimed P2 followed by Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro. Rossi was seen in P5 just before riders began to switch on to fresh rubber.
On the second stint, Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso took P2 from Lorenzo in an attempt to catch Marquez for pole. With about 4 minutes remaining in the session, Rossi and Marquez were seen together trying to get the best out of their machines. Valentino Rossi was the first man to get into the 1.43's and was on top of Marquez, leading to a potential Pole position for the Japanese GP. Meanwhile Marquez tried catching Vale, but failed twice due to a mistake at Turn 5 which made him run wide and a Yellow flag incident involving Cal Crutchlow on the final outing.
Finally Valentino Rossi got his 64th Pole position at the JapanGP, which means Rossi, Marquez and Lorenzo share the same number of Poles to their names now. The second row of the grid is filled by Andrea Dovizioso, Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro. The future teammate of Rossi, Maverick Viñales starts from 7th place.
We are as excited as ever for the race tomorrow at 10.30 AM IST, expecting a great show for the fans. Tomorrow's race is the most important one as far as the Championship gets going, as a small mistake from Marquez could cost him big and a mistake by Rossi would nullify his chances for the title mathematically. Stay tuned at BikesIndia for the race report coming up tomorrow and for the updates on the rest of the Championship.
By: Aravind Rb