Johann Zarco took a second career MotoGP pole after a gamble from Marc Marquez to run slick tyres backfired in the closing stages of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
While most opted for wet tyres at the start of Q2, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi – who had just one bike at his disposal after a crash in fourth practice – gambled on slicks with the track continuing to dry over the course of the 15-minute Q1 session.
Marquez, meanwhile, shot to the top of the pile with a 1m53.903s despite a huge slide at the final corner, which was the best lap of the weekend and put him almost two seconds clear of the field. Rossi‘s first lap on slicks was almost 20s adrift.
After a second effort of 2m09.872s, Rossi returned to his garage for wet tyres, while Marquez headed out on slicks to explore the conditions with his benchmark lap yet to come under threat.
The Honda rider was unable to find any time on his slick tyres, and soon found his place on the front row insecure as the timing screen lit up with personal best sector times.
Zarco put in a blinding final sector to take over top spot with a 1m53.469s with a minute to go, while Danilo Petrucci, Dani Pedrosa and Aleix Espargaro vied to deny the Frenchman his first pole since the Assen race.
Zarco was unable to improve on his final lap, and Petrucci lost time in the last sector in second spot. Espargaro ended up just four hundredths of a second from a maiden Aprilia front row, which kept championship leader Marquez third.
Jorge Lorenzo guided his Ducati to fifth on the grid ahead of Pedrosa and the Q1 pacesetters of KTM duo Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro – the latter of the two briefly holding a place on the front row.
The big shock of qualifying came in the form of Vinales, who could only manage 14th in the damp-but-drying conditions on his Yamaha which has once again proven troublesome to ride in the tricky conditions this weekend.
Team-mate Rossi completed the top 12 on the one flying lap he could do on wet tyres, while Vinales’ nearest championship challenger Andrea Dovizioso put the second factory Ducati ninth. Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone split the two Italians.
Loris Baz took his best Saturday result since the Austrian Grand Prix in August after putting his Avintia Ducati 13th on the grid, while a mistake for Cal Crutchlow on his final flying lap left him stranded in 15th.
Alvaro Bautista brushed off a crash at the end of third practice to qualify his Aspar Ducati 16th ahead of Hector Barbera, while Sam Lowes will start from 18th – which is the Aprilia rider’s best qualifying result since he was tenth at Assen.
Kohta Nozane returned from a heavy fall at the start of fourth practice to round out the 24-rider field behind compatriot and fellow Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
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