Japanese MotoGP Results, Qualifying | Marquez takes first pole in three years
The Mobility Resort Motegi hosts the 2022 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix, round 16 of this year's World Championship. Qualifying was delayed due to weather.
Qualifying for the 2022 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix took place in unpredictable, but fully wet, conditions, after delays due to the weather conditions.
Typhoon Nanmadol was the major worry ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. It swept through Japan on Friday, but by Saturday Typhoon Talas had arrived and for MotoGP it meant the cancellation of their third and final practice session of the race weekend, and a delayed start to qualifying.
When qualifying finally did get underway, conditions remained completely wet, and the threat of added rainfall contributing to even worse conditions as the session went on meant that every lap was crucial.
Aragon race winner Enea Bastianini was one of several big names in Q1, but it was the Pramac Racing duo - Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco - and Franco Morbidelli who set the pace in the first part of the session while Takaaki Nakagami crashed.
In the end, it was the Pramac pair that went through to Q2, with Zarco ahead of Martin, while Bastianini crashed with two minutes left and will start from 15th.
In Q2, the conditions were slightly better, but there was never even a remote possibility of moving to slick tyres. This was good news for Marc Marquez, who topped Saturday morning's full-wet FP2 by over 0.1 seconds.
And Marquez made the most of it to take his first pole position since Motegi 2019, almost three years ago. Further, with dry weather expected for Sunday, and Johann Zarco and Bad Binder joining Marquez on the front row, an early escape for the eight-times World Champion could put him in genuine victory contention, even with questions over his race fitness.
Maverick Vinales will start from the head of the second row in fourth place, alongside Jorge Martin and the second-placed Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, who is best-placed of the championship contenders.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo will start from the third row in ninth place, behind seventh-placed Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira in eighth; while Francesco Bagnaia - who came to Motegi just 10 points behind the Frenchman - will start 12th, having lapped slower than Remy Gardner, who finished Q1 in 10th. Luca Marini (10th) and Pol Espargaro (11th) will join Bagnaia on row four.
Full Japanese MotoGP qualifying results are below.
2022 Japanese Grand Prix | Motegi Mobility Resort | Qualifying Results
| 2022 Japanese Grand Prix | Motegi Mobility Resort | Qualifying Results | Round 16 / 21 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | MotoGP Team | MotoGP Bike | Timing |
| 1 | Marc Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1:55.214 |
| 2 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Prima Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1:55.422 |
| 3 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1:55.537 |
| 4 | Maverick Vinales | ESP | Aprilia Racing | Aprila RS-GP | 1:55.620 |
| 5 | Jorge Martin | ESP | Prima Pramac Racing | Ducati GP22 | 1:55.686 |
| 6 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:55.771 |
| 7 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | 1:55.784 |
| 8 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1:55.895 |
| 9 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1:56.326 |
| 10 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati GP22 | 1:56.354 |
| 11 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1:57.354 |
| 12 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP22 | 1:57.373 |
| 13 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati GP21 | 1:55.934 |
| 14 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1:56.006 |
| 15 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1:56.130 |
| 16 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1:56.432 |
| 17 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda RC213V | 1:56.578 |
| 18 | Alex Rins | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:56.656 |
| 19 | Tetsuta Nagashima | JAP | HRC Team | Honda RC213V | 1:57.229 |
| 20 | Remy Gardner | AUS | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1:57.288 |
| 21 | Takuya Tsuda | JAP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:57.787 |
| 22 | Raul Fernandez | ESP | Tech3 KTM Racing | KTM RC16 | 1:57.827 |
| 23 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1:58.115 |
| 24 | Darryn Binder | RSA | WithU RNF Racing Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1:58.292 |
| 25 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda Idemitsu | Honda RC213V | 1:58.717 |
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