The Japanese Grand Prix got underway today at Twin Ring Motegi in mixed weather conditions, with a dry morning session followed by a wet and damp afternoon stint.

Marc Marquez led FP1 at length before dropping to fourth in the final minutes. Fourth-fastest was also Marc’s overall result for the day, as he decided to sit out FP2 after checking the track conditions.

Dani Pedrosa was 11th this morning in the dry before setting the fastest lap time in FP2’s mixed conditions.

Marc Marquez

4th Combined 1'45.498 (FP1)

“This morning in the dry, the feeling was good, and with half-and-half conditions in the afternoon, we decided not to lap, even though I’m normally strong in that situation. I felt competitive and strong in FP1 and I was able to ride in a good way. That said, while it’s a bit to early to understand where we are, I saw that Dovi is going to be fast this weekend. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, as we’ll keep the same mentality as always and keep working. We need to adjust many details, such as acceleration and braking stability. We have margin for improvement.”

Dani Pedrosa

11th Combined (1st in wet FP2) 1'46.568 (FP1) 1'48.136 (wet FP2)

“Today we struggled a bit at the beginning, and we had to work on the bike setup. We were ready to try in the afternoon, but conditions changed with the rain that fell before FP2. We weren’t sure if it was meaningful to ride on a half-and-half track, but in the end I think it was positive because we managed to improve the feeling a little bit. In the final minutes we were also able to do a few laps on slick tyres, and that will allow us to be a bit more prepared in case it rains tomorrow.”

MotoGP 2018
Practice Round 16   Japan

Free Practice Combined Classification

Mixed
Humidity
65%
Track Temp
27°C
Air Temp
19°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
Location Information

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became… read more.

Length 4.801 kilometres / 2.983 miles
Width 15 metres
Left corners 6
Right corners 8
Longest straight 0.762 kilometres / 0.473 miles
Constructed 1997

Twin Ring Motegi, Haga District, Tochigi, Japan - View in Google Maps

www.twinring.jp/english

Records

Pole Position 1m 43.198s (167.4km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2023)
Race Lap 1m 45.198s (164.2km/h) Jack Miller (Ducati, 2022)
Race Time 42m 21.259s (163.2km/h) Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha, 2014)
2023 Sprint Winner Jorge Martin (Ducati)
2023 Race Winner Jorge Martin (Ducati)