Zarco and Brad Binder join the number 93 on the front row, with Aleix sixth, Quartararo ninth and Bagnaia 12th to tease a serious Sunday showdown.
1071 days is a little less than three years; it’s 50 MotoGP™ races and 25 starts for Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). It’s also the time that’s passed since the eight-time World Champion started from pole and what a stage to do it on: the very same Mobility Resort Motegi. After a tough, tough run for Honda, the number 93 gave the factory plenty of reasons to smile on home turf as he danced through the rain to head the grid with a couple of tenths in hand. What will a likely dry race on Sunday bring? We don’t know yet, and Marquez says he doesn’t either. But Saturday was a statement.
The headlines overflowed behind the number 93, too. The highest starting title challenger is Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) on the outside of the second row. Points leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) starts ninth, on the edge of the third. And completing the perfect straight line of the top three title hopefuls all hurrying into Turn 1 in a row comes Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) down in 12th.
Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), meanwhile, crashed on Friday to dent his place on the combined timesheets and then slid out in Q1, so he’ll start P15. One may need to buckle up for quite a Sunday afternoon… 
It was certainly a dramatic Saturday. After FP3 was cancelled due to adverse weather and limited daylight time, qualifying got underway for the premier class a little later than scheduled, but the show did not disappoint as the rain abated just enough. Marquez’ display was a stunner, and the last challenger keeping the fight going to the flag was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as he put in a couple of red sectors. In the end, the South African couldn’t quite complete the deposition and he lines up in P3, but he takes his first MotoGP™ front row. Given the charge we saw only seven days ago, that promises much once the lights go out.
Between Marquez’ goosebump-inducer and BB33’s little piece of history made in third, Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) went from Q1 to second on the grid and ensures Ducati’s roll of 36 races in a row with a bike on the front row keeps going.
Aprilia Racing emerged as the factory team with the best positions on aggregate, with Maverick Viñales in P4 ahead of Q1 graduate Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Aleix Espargaro in P6. Viñales was another whose first couple of sectors looked to be on to ruin Marquez’ Honda fairytale, but it just came up short.
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) had an uncharacteristic run in Q2 to end up P7, aiming higher on race day, and the man of the wet weather masterclass in Lombok, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), had a tip off that stopped his pace converting into more than P8 on the grid. Then comes Quartararo, who is top Yamaha but will want to remain top title contender by the flag – and with his closest rivals in a straight line right behind him.
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) completes the top ten, ahead of Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), who has taken a step forward this weekend, and Bagnaia in that lowly 12th. In the dry, however, what’s the biggest bet anyone would make against Pecco of late…?
Qualifying wrote the start of a few incredible stories at Motegi, and Sunday will add another chapter to each. With little dry running and the forecast for race day looking better, it could be one of the most unpredictable showdowns for some time. So make sure to tune in as we go racing at 15:00 (GMT +9)!
The power of dreams – and inordinate amounts of talent, hard work and perseverance
MotoGP™: TOP THREE
1 Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) – Honda – 1’55.214
2 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +0.208
3 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – KTM – +0.323
Marc Marquez: “I’m really, really, really happy to be on the pole position. Today, in the morning, I already felt really, really strong in the wet, and then I said, ‘Okay, if it’s wet in the afternoon, I will try.’ It’s only pole position, it’s in wet conditions, but from where we are coming, in the situation we are in with Honda, it’s really important for all the Japanese staff, it’s really important for me, it’s really important for the future to achieve these small targets. Tomorrow, in dry conditions, it will be a different race, it will be a different story, but today it’s like this, so we will celebrate.”
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