Ending a 1071-day pole drought, Honda’s six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez came up with an absolute masterclass. On what was a day full of heavy rain, Marquez posted a time of 1:55.214 to snatch pole on the same circuit where he claimed his last pole in 2019.
Here’s the video:
Due to heavy rain, qualifying was delayed by over an hour as the preceding FP3 session was cancelled to try and make space in the schedule.
Marc Marquez’s dip in recent form massed with injury
The Spaniard has had ongoing problems since he broke his arm at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix and has had to go through multiple operations since then.
He missed six rounds of the championship following the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in May but made his return at last week’s Aragon Grand Prix after recovering from surgery on his right arm.
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Marc Marquez downplays Pole Position
Asked if he was ready to run at the front on Sunday, Marquez said:
“No. I mean, tomorrow we will come back to our natural place right now.
“Of course, I would like to be on top, of course I would like to fight for the podium, for top five. But it’s not the time, this is what I believe.
“Always when I have a small chance I will try because I’m like this and my character is the same as when I arrived in MotoGP.
“But tomorrow will be a very long race. I already felt on Friday that here I will struggle to be consistent and attacking all the laps.”
Wet Conditions favourable for Marquez
The six-time MotoGP world champion also admitted his running in the wet on Saturday in Japan was the first time since he broke his arm that he could ride in the way he wanted.
“In wet conditions, today was the first day that I rode the bike like I like,” he said.
“I mean, last year on wet I was competitive but I was riding in a strange way and I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike.
“And I didn’t understand how the lap time was coming. But today I confirmed my arm position was in a perfect way, and I was able to brake like I wanted, go in and pick up the bike and I’m very happy for that.
“Why I can ride in wet conditions better than dry? It’s because the effort on the muscles is less, and then I can keep my arm in the position that I like.
“Then in dry conditions it’s more difficult, I’m still not ready to attack all the laps. And in the wet, the weak points of the bike is less.”
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