Andrea Dovizioso delivered Ducati a first pole position in four years as he pipped Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi to the top spot at Motegi.
The Italian posted a 1:44.502s to move to the head of the times which had been led by the Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa earlier in the session.
Dovizioso’s effort was threatened late on by nine-time world champion Rossi but in the end the Yamaha man just fell 0.055s shy of snatching pole from the Ducati man.
As a result, Dovizioso’s pole is the first achieved by a factory Ducati since 2010.
Dani Pedrosa will start from third on the grid just two tenths adrift of Dovizioso ahead of Marquez, who has been enduring a difficult weekend with brake and engine issues.
Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo ended the session in fifth just a fraction quicker than the Pramac Ducati of Andrea Iannone and Monster Yamaha’s Pol Espargaro.
Ducati’s Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith completed the top 10.
Australia’s Broc Parkes will start Sunday’s grand prix from 24th on the grid for Paul Bird Motorsport.
In Moto3, Queensland’s Jack Miller will start from fifth having finished qualifying half a second adrift of polesitter Danny Kent.
MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan Qualifying Results
|
Position |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
| 1 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1:44.502s | – |
| 2 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1:44.557s | +0.055s |
| 3 | Daniel Pedrosa | Honda | 1:44.755s | +0.253s |
| 4 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1:44.775s | +0.273s |
| 5 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1:44.784s | +0.282s |
| 6 | Andrea Iannone | Pramac Racing | 1:44.854s | +0.352s |
| 7 | Pol Espargaro | Monster Yamaha | 1:44.867s | +0.365s |
| 8 | Cal Crutchlow | Ducati | 1:44.898s | +0.396s |
| 9 | Stefan Bradl | LCR Honda | 1:45.005s | +0.503s |
| 10 | Bradley Smith | Monster Yamaha | 1:45.044s | +0.542s |
| 11 | Aleix Espargaro | Forward Yamaha | 1:45.315s | +0.813s |
| 12 | Alvaro Bautista | Gresini Honda | 1:45.677s | +1.175s |
| 13 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Ducati | 1:45.971s | +1.469s |
| 14 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar Honda | 1:46.465s | +1.963s |
| 15 | Scott Redding | Gresini Hinda | 1:46.499s | +1.997s |
| 16 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Ducati | 1:46.796s | +2.294s |
| 17 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | 1:46.876s | +2.374s |
| 18 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Aspar Honda | 1:46.915s | +2.413s |
| 19 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1m46.948s | +2.446s |
| 20 | Alex de Angelis | Forward Yamaha | 1:47.092s | +2.590s |
| 21 | Danilo Petrucci | IodaRacing Project | 1:47.757s | +3.255s |
| 22 | Michael Laverty | Paul Bird Motorsport Aprilia | 1:48.144s | +3.642s |
| 23 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Kawasaki | 1:48.185s | +3.683s |
| 24 | Broc Parkes | Paul Bird Motorsport Aprilia | 1:48.261s | +3.759s |
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