2017 MotoGP Results Friday from Motegi

The weather and Dovizioso prevailed on the first day of practice at Motegi. In a day of near-constant raindrops, Ducati’s title challenger moved to the top of the time-sheets in the second free practice session, fulfilling in the wet the predictions that his and the Desmosedici’s strengths in acceleration and especially braking would give the Italian the chance to halt Marc Marquez run of wins, and close back up in the championship.

Marquez (Repsol Honda) has won the last two races and taken a 16-point advantage over erstwhile title leader Andrea Dovizioso. But with four races to go – three far-off flyaways on successive weekends – and 100 points still available, there is still plenty of racing in it.

Marquez had been fastest in the morning, but his response to Dovi’s surge was a crash. He fell at the end of the afternoon session and stayed second … albeit a rather notional 0.043 of a second slower.

With more rain forecast over the next two days, it’s possible that today’s rather atypical times may determine the top ten to go straight into Q2. If so, then third-fastest Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) will be able to sleep soundly; while both factory Yamaha riders not. The Movistar pair Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi ended up 11th and 12th, some 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Both were suffering from rear grip problems that continue to plague the 2017 M1. Switching to next year’s chassis had alleviated them in the dry, but not in the wet. “It’s very strange,” said Rossi. “With last year’s bike I was very fast in the wet.”

The top Yamaha rider was Monster-backed Johann Zarco, riding last year’s bike, and placed fifth, in between the Ducatis of Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci.

Andrea Iannone came back from a morning spill to put his Suzuki seventh, ahead of the Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow; second Suzuki rider Alex Rins slotted into tenth.

In Moto2, title challenger Tom Luthi (CarXpert Kalex) also seized the advantage, placing fastest in the afternoon before having his own harmless but muddy spill.

Points leader Franco Morbidelli (VDS Kalex) eventually managed to get up to fifth, but a full second down.

His team-mate Alex Marquez was second by virtue of his morning time; with Red Bull KTM’s Miguel Oliveira third, in his first Moto2 outing at the Japanese circuit.

Moto3 likewise saw the points leader fail to prevail. Leopard Honda rider Joan Mir, who has a strong chance of tying up the title on Sunday, was down in a distant 17th, and also fell, without injury.

The top spots went for once to KTM riders, with Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Migno setting the times in the morning, circulating steadily without stopping once.

In fact, most of the best times were in the morning, with the only remaining (although distant) title challenger Romano Fenati (Honda), with Aron Canet’s Honda fourth, Nico Antonelli (KTM) fifth and Manuel Pagliani an excellent sixth on the top Mahindra.

One more practice session remains for all classes before qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

MOTUL GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2 Classification 2017