Takaaki Nakagmi denied Alex Marquez at the death of Moto2 qualifying to take a home pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The 2.98–mile Motegi circuit was not quite dry enough for slick tyres when qualifying got underway, though the ever–improving laptimes in the opening stages suggested dry running was not far off.
Mattia Pasini was the early pacesetter on wet tyres with a 2m03.188s, but the Italian saw Xavier Simeon, Takaaki Nakagami and Miguel Oliveira shuffle him off top spot.
The Italtrans rider returned to the top of the pile with a 2m00.477s with 26 minutes remaining before boxing for slick tyres, while those who had already made the change were beginning to up their pace.
Misano race winner Dominique Aegerter was the first provisional polesitter on slicks with a 2m00.454s, with Fabio Quartararo and Iker Lecuona briefly going fastest of all.
Times continued to tumble as the clock counted down, and pole was still up for debate as the chequered flag fell.
Nakagami had taken his Idemitsu Honda Team Asia bike to top spot in the final minute, but was deposed by Marc VDS man Marquez with a 1m53.776s – who suffered a sticking throttle at the start of the session.
The Japanese rider, as well as Pasini and Xavi Vierge, traded fastest sectors on their final laps, but it was Nakagami who edged ahead to a 1m53.776s for his second pole of the year ahead of Marquez and Tech3 rider Vierge.
Pasini had to settle for fourth in the end, while KTM’s Miguel Oliveira was shuffled back to fifth at the flag ahead of third practice pacesetter Hafizh Syahrin, who shadowed the Portuguese rider for much of the closing stages.
Sandro Cortese took his Dynavolt Intact GP Suter to seventh ahead of team–mate Marcel Schrotter, with MotoGP–bound Xavier Simeon and Speed Up’s Augusto Fernandez completing the top 10.
After a difficult morning for championship contenders Tom Luthi and Franco Morbidelli, in which both riders crashed, qualifying proved just as tough for them.
Never a threat for pole on the switch to slick tyres, Luthi hovered on the fringes of the top 20 until a final lap of 1m55.684s lifted him up to 13th and, crucially, ahead of Morbidelli, who slid to 15th.
