Round 15 Motegi: Dovizioso destroys Motegi lap record to take pole position in Japan

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso continued the scintillating pace he showed yesterday at Motegi to smash the existing circuit lap record by four-tenths of a second and claim pole position for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.

In an incredibly competitive Qualifying Practice 2 session where the top ten riders set personal best lap times within half a second of each other, Dovizioso put together the perfect lap to set a time of 1’44.502 to finish 0.055 seconds ahead of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi, who qualified in second place. Third quickest in qualifying was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol Honda rider setting a personal best lap time of 1’44.755. Both Rossi and Pedrosa set their quickest lap using the combination of the soft compound rear and medium compound front slicks, while Dovizioso used the extra-soft rear and medium compound front slicks on his way to pole position. Today’s Qualifying Practice 2 was run at a fierce pace with the top eight ranked riders in the session setting personal best lap times under the existing Circuit Best Lap time at Motegi.

Warmer conditions were present today at Motegi resulting in higher track temperatures than yesterday, with a peak recording of 40°C in the afternoon Free Practice 4 session. All three rear slick options were utilised today by the riders and although all the compound selections are viable race options, today’s feedback indicates that the extra-soft compound rear slick for the Open-class riders, and the soft compound rear slick for the Ducati, Honda and Yamaha riders will be the most popular race tyres. Front tyre choice for almost the entire grid for tomorrow’s race will be the medium compound front slick due to its good braking character and consistent performance.   

Slightly cooler temperatures are forecast for tomorrow’s twenty-four lap Japanese Grand Prix which will start at 1400 local time (GMT +9).

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department

“We had another full day of fine conditions today which meant that the riders were able to spend a lot of time working out their race tyre choice, while also improving upon their pace from yesterday. The soft compound rear slick is likely to be the most popular choice tomorrow as it offers the most consistent performance over race distance for the Ducati, Honda, Yamaha and also some Open-class riders this weekend. Just like yesterday, the medium compound front slick was preferred by the majority of the riders, and even though temperatures are expected to be cooler tomorrow, I believe this will be by far the most popular race choice. So far this weekend our tyre allocation has performed excellently, with the top eight riders in QP2 lapping under the existing lap record, and race record pace being shown in the practice sessions. These are encouraging signs that we will have an exciting Japanese Grand Prix tomorrow.”