Moto GP Qualifying: Italians spoil Honda party

With the havoc forecasted from Typhoon Vongfong seemingly blowing over, it was warm air and blue skies that greeted qualifying at Motegi in Japan today. And then – in the final moments of the session – everything heated up on track.

With Honda looking to put on a show at their home circuit and with Marquez looking to secure a front row and the championship this weekend, it was the Ducati of Dovizioso that took the honours over Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.

The Ducati man was all smiles for the reporters, “I think we work very well and we’re closer than in other races. I think it will be difficult [to win] but we start from the first row and we’ll improve bit by bit”.

Speaking straight after the session, Valentino was upbeat, “I am very happy about the second place for sure, and the lap time is good. So we had a good strategy. But we have to work for the race pace but we’ve proved a lot here in qualifying and have made small steps for tomorrow.”

With Marquez only managing a second row start and Pedrosa dropping the bike on his final lap of qualifying there will be much race preparation to do in the Honda garage for tomorrow’s main event.