Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo delivered strong performances in this afternoon’s MotoGP qualifying session to take second and fifth respectively for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Japan.

Rossi impressed with his efforts during the second qualification at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. Following his teammate, the nine-time World Champion was one of the first riders to leave pit lane in the second qualifying session. Still riding without anesthetic injections, Rossi topped the timesheets early in the session with a 1’45.356, until Andrea Dovizioso took over the top spot a minute later. With nine minutes on the clock his second effort of 1’44.837 saw him take provisional pole.

The Doctor then quickly returned to the pit box for a new soft rear. He was back on track with four minutes remaining to post an impressive 1’44.557 in the last minute, just 0.055 of a second off pole. His efforts see Rossi start tomorrow’s race from the second place on the grid.

Teammate Lorenzo also looked comfortable around the Motegi circuit. Last year’s race winner wasted no time leaving pit lane at the start of the second qualifying session. His first flying lap was a 1’45.573, the first recorded lap of the session until his rivals completed their first laps, dropping him to fourth provisionally. He improved his time on his second try, posting a 1’44.982, just 0.145 seconds from his teammate’s provisional pole, to climb up to third place.

With more than seven minutes remaining Lorenzo came in for a change of tyres. When he rejoined the action on the track the usual last-minute flurry of activity saw him dropping him to seventh at the end of the session. However, he managed to rectify the situation with his second lap of 1’44.784 seconds, taking fifth place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Valentino Rossi - 2nd / 1'44.557 / 7 laps

“I am very happy and satisfied. Especially because I will get to start from the front row, which will be very important for tomorrow’s race. It will be a long race and very tough because everybody will push at their maximum. I’m happy because with the team we worked well on the bike to improve the setting. We did a good job and before the qualifying I was strong. I hope this modification also helps my rhythm for the race. During the practice session my rhythm was not so bad, but it was also nothing special. If we want to fight for the victory tomorrow we have to improve. At first I was worried about my head injury, but then I realised I’m ok. When it comes to the finger, this finger is very important for braking. I feel pain, but I have power in my finger and I have feeling on the brake so I can ride.”

Jorge Lorenzo - 5th / 1'44.784 / 7 laps

“My last lap could have been faster, because I made a mistake. I lost two tenths but the other guys, Valentino, Dovizioso, Marc and Dani made good lap times. I didn’t do a perfect lap, but the important thing is that our pace is really good. I’m very confident. Let’s hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow and that we can show our potential. It’s important to make a good start and try to overtake some riders on the first laps, but the race is very long so having a good pace is going to be the most important thing. To have a good race you have to have good feeling. Let’s hope for a competitive race and try to fight for the win.”

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“A good qualifying this afternoon for tomorrow’s grid. Our Yamaha is working well here at Motegi and we have been able to make some small steps from yesterday with speed and pace to be even more competitive. The qualifying was very hot and the top six are separated by less than four tenths. Vale did a very good job to get a front row start and Jorge also continues to be on the pace and fast, missing the front row by less than three hundredths of a second. We will continue to work now to make another step for warm up then I think it’s going to be a very exciting race tomorrow!”

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