Movistar Yamaha's Rossi 2nd, Lorenzo 5th in MotoGP Qualifying for Motegi GP

	Grand Prix of Japan   Rossi Scores Front Row in Motegi for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 14:35 Local time GMT+9 Sunny Air 23°C Track 36°C Humidity 50%
	Pictures for editorial use only - Copyrights 2014 Yamaha Motor Racing Srl
	Twin Ring Motegi Circuit (Motegi, Japan), 11th October 2014 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 “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!”
	QUALIFYING RESULTS
	FRONT ROW 1. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1'44.502 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'44.557 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'44.755 SECOND ROW 4. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'44.775 5. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'44.784 6. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing 1'44.854 THIRD ROW 7. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'44.867 8. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Ducati Team 1'44.898 9. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'45.005 FOURTH ROW 10. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'45.044 11. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) NGM Forward Racing 1'45.315 12. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'45.677 FIFTH ROW 13. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1'45.971 14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Drive M7 Aspar 1'46.465 15. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'46.499 SIXTH ROW 16. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing 1'46.796 17. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (JPN) YAMALUBE Racing Team with YSP 1'46.876 18. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Drive M7 Aspar 1'46.915 SEVENTH ROW 19. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 1'46.948 20. Alex De Angelis (RSM) NGM Forward Racing 1'47.092 21. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Octo IodaRacing Team 1'47.757 EIGHTH ROW 22. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'48.144 23. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing 1'48.185 24. Brok Parkes (AUS) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'48.261
	CIRCUIT INFORMATION
	Technical Informations Circuit Motegi Location Motegi, Japan Length (m) 4801 Width (m) 15 Turns 14 Turns righ 8 Turns left 6 Pole position left Record Lap Time 1'45.589 Rider D.Pedrosa Bike Honda Year 2012 Best Lap Time 1'44.502 Rider A.Dovizioso Bike Ducati Year 2014 2013 Results 1st J.Lorenzo (Yamaha): 42'34.291 2nd M.Marquez (Honda): +3.188 3rd D.Pedrosa (Honda): +4.592
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