Action finally gets underway at Motegi, with single qualifying session on asphalt with puddles. Rins dominates and Marquez takes valuable third place.
Though with less fog and with medical helicopters already at the Japanese circuit, the constant rain did not abate until after noon, when the Moto3 riders were able to go out on track in a single qualifying session of 55 minutes in duration. Alex Rins and Alex Marquez took full advantage of the track time and overcame a difficult situation for first and third on the grid for tomorrow.
In an exceedingly difficult session, Rins engaged in a battle for pole position with Maverick Viñales, and the two took turns to lead the way during the run. With around ten minutes remaining, Rins set a time of 2:09.287 to take close to a second off his compatriot.
His teammate Alex Marquez also had a great performance, setting the third fastest time. He will start tomorrow from the front row of the grid.
Alex Rins >> Audio
QP – 2:09.387, 19 laps, 91 km.
“Bearing in mind the mess about the star, the session went quite well and we put in a good time. It’s a pity that at the end we could not improve because the track conditions worsened and it became wetter. But I think if we develop our setup for tomorrow and give our best, we can do quite well. Seeing how it went today, I hope that the race is wet because I will do better then. But if the warm up is dry, we’ll try to get a good setup and then we’ll see about the race.”
Alex Marquez >> Audio
QP – 2:10.313, 22 laps, 106 km.
“It’s been a difficult weekend so far, because of the weather. Yesterday we could not go out and today we had to start directly with the qualifying session. It’s a difficult situation, but we have adapted quite well, getting a place on the front row. It is a very positive result for tomorrow, because last week we saw that coming up through the field makes it much tougher to be up there with the top guys. We will see how things go if it turns out dry, because if so we do not know what everyone’s pace is. If it rains again, we can get a better idea. Personally, I had a good feeling and good pace today. I think if the race is wet we are ready, but if it dries out we will have to do a good job in the practice session in the morning.”
