Lorenzo on Pole after Leading FP3 and Fiercely Battling Rossi in Q2 at Motegi

Ducati's Iannone followed him four tenths behind, while his teammate Andrea Dovizioso was almost on par. Marquez and Rossi completed the FP3 top five, while the following five positions were shared by, Pol Espargari, Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith, Scott Redding and Maverick Vinales, respectively.

Redding and Vinales eventually made it in Q2, and finished the second qualifying session in the 12th and 10th position, respectively. However, it was the battle between Lorenzo and Rossi that delighted the Motegi crowd, as the Spaniard managed to steal Rossi's pole position by 81 thousandths of a second.

Marquez, who is riding with a fractured metacarpal bone, was third in Q2, improving his FP performance a lot and looking stronger than yesterday. Ducati's factory bikes received an additional pair of aerodynamic winglets and this may have helped Dovizioso and Iannone and position fourth and fifth on the grid.

Pedrosa was only sixth, followed by a very fast Aleix Espargaro. The top ten was complete with Crutchlow, Smith, and Vinales. Smith was involved in a couple of crashes, one of which took place at a very high speed, but the Brit was alright and did not sustain any serious injuries.

The Japanese GP race is scheduled for tomorrow at 14:00 local time, and this means that we're in for action quite soon, given the time zone differences. At Motegi, Honda and Yamaha field wildcard entries, and both teams' riders and bikes exhibit the retro liveries. Takumi Takahashi (Team HRC With Nissin) arrives at Motegi in a classic HRC tri-colour graphic scheme, while Yamaha's Katsuyuki Nakasuga and his bike show off the yellow/black 60th Anniversaty speedblock looks.

Below you can watch a spectacular footage of Jorge Lorenzo's carbon rotors becoming red hot during braking ahead of Turn 11, slowing down from around 300 km/h to only 80 km/h (186 to 50 mph).