The starting grid for the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix has a new master, after Andrea Dovizioso claimed the premier-class pole position this afternoon – early this morning CET –. The Repsol rider, second yesterday and in this morning’s free practice, was the fastest in the qualifying session, claiming his first premier-class pole position in his sporting career.
The Repsol rider proved to be on top form at the Japanese circuit of Motegi, where he has felt very confident on his Honda RC212V, on which he was second yesterday. This morning, Dovizioso continued to improve and after 26 laps, he finished with a time of 1 minute and 47 seconds, a time which, in principle, seems to be the benchmark for tomorrow’s race.
In the definitive qualifying session, it did not take him long to set a good pace and half-way through the session, Dovizioso was first. After being overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo for a few minutes, the Repsol rider set the best time on the Japanese track again with just twelve minutes to go. Although Casey Stoner also headed the timesheets with five minutes to go, Dovizioso responded immediately, upping the pace to 1 minute, 47 seconds and one millisecond, a time that nobody was able to beat.
His Repsol Honda Team team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, flew from Tokyo to Spain last night and is currently at the Barcelona clinic where he is undergoing different tests to find out the full extent of his injuries and decide whether will be operated on today. We will keep you posted throughout the day via the Repsol Media Service.
Andrea Dovizioso, 1’47.001 sec, 54 laps, 259 KM >> Audio
“I’m really happy to be on pole position and also surprised because I didn’t expect to get so close to going under a 1m 47s lap here. This is like my second home race because it’s the home of the team, which makes it even more special to get my first pole position here. I’m also so happy about the performance of the RC212V. We’ve got the electronics working really well here – the anti-wheelie system in particular – and also the power is very strong which helps a lot. We’re looking good for the race because my style is usually not to go at my absolute maximum pace in practice and qualifying, so I’m hopeful for tomorrow. I’d like to say thanks a lot to the team because they are working really well for me. It’s the race tomorrow that really counts though, so we’ll be concentrating hard to make sure we have a strong race”.
