2018 MotoGP Japanese GP: pole for Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Márquez sixth

This weekend sees the 2018 MotoGP Japanese GP, a race in which Marc Márquez could be crowned world champion again in motorcycle racing. That is what his manufacturer, Honda, hopes, since it is racing at home this weekend, and it is also what the fans of the Cervera rider hope, although for this situation to come about at Motegi, Marc Márquez will have to finish the race ahead of Andrea Dovizioso.

For now, Marc Márquez will start behind the Italian Ducati rider on the grid, so he will have to charge through if he wants to mathematically secure the world title. While the Spanish rider has matched his worst qualifying result, sixth place, Andrea Dovizioso will start from pole position. It is the second time Dovi will start from the front of the grid this season, and the last time he did so, in the Czech Republic, he took the victory.

Marc Márquez was hampered by his crash in FP4. The rider himself acknowledged that the crash had conditioned him for qualifying, since he did not have time to repair the damaged bike and had to go out on track with his other bike, which had a different setup.

On the front row alongside Andrea Dovizioso will be Johann Zarco and Jack Miller. On the second row and ahead of Márquez we have Crutchlow and Iannone. The Yamahas of Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi will start on the third row alongside Alex Rins. And the rest of the Spanish riders: Bautista tenth, Pedrosa eleventh, Pol fourteenth, Aleix nineteenth and Jordi Torres twenty-fourth. We remind you that Jorge Lorenzo is not racing in Japan either because of his physical problems.

In Moto2, the championship leader Pecco Bagnaia took pole position, the sixth time he has done so this season. Moreover, to the benefit of the Sky team rider, his biggest rival, the Portuguese Oliveira, will start from ninth position. The best Spaniard in this category’s qualifying was Iker Lecuona, who will start third, while Álex Márquez will start from sixth place.

And in Moto3, first pole position of the season for the Argentine Gabriel Rodrigo, though with a close lap time: only 75 thousandths better than the Scot John McPhee. The front row is completed by one of the title contenders, the Italian Marco Bezzecchi, while championship leader Jorge Martín will start just behind in fourth position. The other contender, Di Giannantonio, will start from fifteenth position.