1071 days later, Marquez returns to pole position

The dreaded rain finally fell on the Motegi circuit this Saturday. Shortly after the start of Q2 Moto2, a violent storm hit the Japanese track, forcing race management to interrupt the session. 

After waiting for a lull, the drivers in the intermediate category were able to finish their session. The final session MotoGP, used to prepare for the race, was canceled and the residents of Q1 returned directly to the still very wet track. 

Johann Zarco perfectly mastered the elements by setting the best time ahead of his teammate Jorge Martin. It was more complicated for Enea Bastianini, winner in Aragon, who could not do better than 15^e after falling. 

In Q2, no strategy except to string together fast laps on wet tires. Marc Marquez, comfortable in these conditions, coped with the precarious conditions to take the lead. Jack Miller, Johann Zarco or Maverick Viñales tried to deprive him of pole, but the Catalan always managed to regain his possession to sign his first pole position, 1071 days after his last on the same Motegi circuit. 

???? @marcmarquez93 is back in full effect!

Absolute masterclass for the 8-time World Champion as he takes his first pole since the 2019 Japanese GP 👏#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/PDfPKRnuc2

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 24, 2022

On the grid on Sunday, he will be ahead of Zarco, qualified second, and Brad Binder. Maverick Viñales will lead the second row ahead of Martin and teammate Aleix Espargaro. Jack Miller will start from seventh place ahead of Miguel Oliveira, who fell in Q2, and fabio quartararo, which recorded its second worst result of the year after Qatar. 

Luca Marini completes the Top 10 ahead of Pol Espargargo and Francesco Bagnaia, who inherited 12^e clock more than two seconds behind Marquez. 

Note that the sun will be back on Sunday and with only one dry session, the race promises to be very interesting. 

Q2 ranking