Japanese MotoGP, Motegi - Free Practice (2) Results

* Rookie

Official Motegi MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 43.790s (2015)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 45.350s (2014)

After a dry Friday, Marc Marquez leads a soaking wet Free Practice 2 for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi on Saturday morning.

It was the first time Marquez has topped a MotoGP session since Portimao.

The special practice schedule, due to the tight travel time from Aragon, means FP2 was pushed over from Friday and became the new cut-off point for direct access to Qualifying 2.

But the (expected) bad weather meant the likes of Johann Zarco, Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Rins, Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin didn't get a chance to try and break into the combined top ten and will thus take part in this afternoon's Qualifying 1.

Title contenders Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro (twice) all ran wide in separate incidents at Turn 3 in the opening minutes of FP2, as riders began seeking a wet set-up for qualifying.

Despite that early off, Quartararo soon looked comfortable on the drenched track, joining fellow wet Mandalika podium finishers Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Miguel Oliveira (KTM) in featuring at the top of the timesheets.

But it was Marc Marquez leading Jorge Martin and Bastianini at the midway stage, with Bagnaia outside the top 20 and the Aprilia and Suzuki riders filling the last four places.

The order at the front remained unchanged by the time red flags were waved to retrieve Pol Espargaro's fallen Repsol Honda at Turn 8, with 12mins to go.

After the restart, team-mate Marquez - sixth on Friday, when he suffered some arm and shoulder pain from Motegi's hard braking zones - kept P1 to the chequered flag, the first session he has topped since returning from arm surgery.

Friday leader Jack Miller rose to third between Martin and Oliveira, with Zarco fifth, Franco Morbidelli the top Yamaha in sixth and Bastianini seventh.

Quartararo was shuffled back to tenth, suffering another run-off at the end of the 45mins, while Aleix Espargaro recovered to 11th with Bagnaia in 15th.

Prior to Espargaro's accident, KTM's Brad Binder had been the first faller of the day, running wide and falling under braking at Turn 3.

A 30-minute FP3 session will be held before Qualifying 1.

Dry weather is expected for Sunday.

• Aleix: Crazy how much Aprilia has changed from 2019
• Alex Rins cut a deal with Suzuki to get ‘rabbit ear’ rear wings
• Marc Marquez: Some pain but bike working well, Nagashima advice

Just 17 points cover Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro at the top of the MotoGP World Championship standings as the series head into the unknown with its first Asian and Australian races since 2019.

Quartararo’s opening lap accident with Marc Marquez at Aragon, combined with Bagnaia’s second place behind Enea Bastianini, has put the factory Ducati star just 10 points from the Monster Yamaha rider, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro also back in the hunt in third.

Home star Takaaki Nakagami has been passed fit to ride despite requiring surgery for injuries to his fingers in last Sunday’s clash with Marquez at Aragon.

The tight travel window to transport freight from Aragon to Motegi means a revised practice schedule in Japan, with a delayed and extended opening practice session running from 15:05-16:20 on Friday. Free Practice 2 is pushed over to Saturday morning with FP3 will be reduced to 30-minutes (replacing the usual FP4), followed by Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2.

The absence of Motegi from the calendar in both 2020 and 2021, due to Covid restrictions, means ten of the full-time riders have never raced at the circuit in the premier class: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

Also on track this weekend will be Suzuki test rider Takuya Tsuda and Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima. Both have been entered as wild-cards in front of their home fans this weekend, although Tsuda will now technically be replacing the injured Joan Mir.

Following Andrea Dovizioso’s retirement, Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow will be starting his second weekend at RNF, where he will complete the season alongside Darryn Binder. Unlike most of the grid, Crutchlow has some private testing experience at Motegi this year.

Japanese MotoGP - Full race weekend schedule (UK time)

Friday September 23rd 

05:15 - 05:55am Moto3 FP1

06:10 - 06:50am Moto2 FP1

07:05 - 08:20 MotoGP FP1

Saturday September 24th

01:00 - 01:40 Moto3 FP2

01:55 - 02:35 Moto2 FP2

02:50 - 03:35 MotoGP FP2

04:35 - 04:50 Moto3 Q1

05:00 - 05:15 Moto3 Q2

05:30 - 05:45 Moto2 Q1

05:55 - 06:10 Moto2 Q2

06:25 - 06:55 MotoGP FP3

07:05 - 07:20 MotoGP Q1

07:30 - 07:45 MotoGP Q2

Sunday September 25th 

02:00 - 02:10 Moto3 Warm Up

02:20 - 02:30 Moto2 Warm Up

02:40 - 03:00 MotoGP Warm Up

04:00 Moto3 Race

05:20 Moto2 Race

07:00 MotoGP Race