Motegi 2015 Spoiler - The Battle Continues

Can't believe Rossi is in the 43s in quali!

Amazing!

Bloody missed it... Was dribbling...

Looking good for the race!

Reckon it's JLo's to lose, Vale and MM left to battle over the next spot.

 

A confident Valentino Rossi plans to carry the fight to his Movistar Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo as the MotoGP World Championship title leaders prepare for battle at Motegi on Sunday.

Rossi pushed Lorenzo all the way in final qualifying and was only denied a rare pole start by 0.081 seconds in the dying seconds after a sensational performance on the YZR-M1.

The 36-year-old, who holds an advantage of 14 points over Lorenzo ahead of the final four races, made big strides on Saturday after trailing the Majorcan by up to eight tenths in the first three free practice sessions.

“Today is a positive day for me because already in the morning we did a step and I was quite happy, but it wasn't enough and we did the most important step in the afternoon,” said Rossi, who benefitted from improvements in braking and acceleration on Saturday.

“We tried to control all the data and to make the right choice because now is so important and the bike worked a lot better. FP4 is always a very important practice to understand the pace that everyone will do in a race situation.

“I am happy because in the last two exits I was strong and my lap time was not so bad with the used tyre, which means that we can be strong,” he added.

“I start for the qualifying very positively because I feel good with the bike and I think we did a good strategy; I was in the right place and especially when I saw 1'43.8 I thought it was enough for the pole and I saw the number 46 in first position, so I was very happy but when I arrived in parc ferme my mechanics said 'second'.

“But anyway it is a good result because I am very close to Jorge [Lorenzo], who is always very strong in qualifying and also in this race track. The lap time was very fast, which means the bike improved a lot and we can ride at 100 per-cent.”

A front row start is a massive plus for Rossi, who was keen to avoid starting behind the Honda or Ducati riders in a scenario that would potentially have enabled Lorenzo to make a decisive break at on the opening laps.

“All the top six riders are very strong and we need to understand tomorrow the pace of the Hondas and also of the Ducati, because they are very fast with both riders, especially [Andrea] Iannone – he is very fast also in the practice,” Rossi said.

“It is so important to start in front and last year I started in second place and I arrived first in the first corner. I did some good laps but after, Jorge was stronger than me, so now the target for tomorrow is to try to fight with him until the end of the race.”

Referring to his position behind Lorenzo in the first time attack, Rossi said he found himself 'in the right place' at the right time.

"The strategy is important; a lot of the time I have been in the same situation as Jorge, to do a good lap but bring three or four in my slipstream and bring them in front of me," he said.

"With this style of qualifying you have to be very concentrated with the eyes open for what is happening. I think it is normal, it has already happened a lot of times and this time I was lucky to be in the right place.

"Anyway, after I know that I can do a little bit better and I was able to improve my lap time but unfortunately I was very excited on my out lap because I think that I could do the pole position," Rossi added.

"But I exaggerated the situation in turns seven and eight and I go wide; I lost one tenth and that is the tenth for the pole position, so it is also very difficult to keep your concentration and try to do the maximum without exaggerating."

MotoGP News - MotoGP Japan: Rossi: We can fight with Jorge

 

Jorge Lorenzo felt he made the wrong judgement in selecting a three-run strategy in final qualifying for the Japanese MotoGP even though the Movistar Yamaha rider sealed his fourth pole of the season.

In a tense shootout with team-mate and championship leader Valentino Rossi, the Majorcan nudged his title rival off the top spot with his final lap after setting a stunning time of 1m 43.790s to come out on top by 0.081s at Motegi.

Lorenzo had dominated each of the free practice sessions but Rossi emerged as something of a surprise package in Q2, dramatically closing the deficit and seeming on course for pole until the final seconds.

The Italian, who opted for a two-stop stint, was able to use Lorenzo as a target in his first time attack but later improved his time on the Movistar Yamaha on his own as the pair slogged it out.

“From outside it was very nice session to watch. In the last hour before the qualifying the humidity increased, so this gave me a little problem on the entry of the corner, especially in Turn 1 and Turn 5, and with the same engine braking the rear was locking so much and I didn't have the same confidence,” said Lorenzo.

“I had to work a little bit more in the electronics and in my riding so we don't suffer so much and it has been difficult to achieve the same feeling as this morning.

“But with a new tyre you try everything to make the fastest lap possible. I am very happy with the pole position but maybe I did a mistake in choosing the strategy because today it probably was a bit better to just make two tyres and don't show in this case the wheel to Valentino [Rossi], who is our strong rival at this moment,” he added.

“Apart from making the pole position I was always the fastest and had some little gap, but then they improved the setting I believe and this helped him to improve so much the lap time.

“Then on the second tyre this following probably helped him to be a little bit faster but anyway we have to learn from these mistakes in strategy for the future to be a little bit more clever.”

Lorenzo tweaked his shoulder after a training incident on a mini bike following his victory at Aragon and although it is causing him some discomfort, the 28-year-old says he is 'very happy' overall with his physical condition.

“I am very happy about the shoulder because five days ago I was very worried about the pain and the condition, but luckily everything improved so much,” he said.

“The improvement has maybe been a little bit slower because you stress the shoulder riding the bike, but anyway today I feel better than yesterday and probably tomorrow I will be even better. Five days ago I saw the future much more bad.”

MotoGP News - MotoGP Japan: Pole man Lorenzo rues strategy 'mistake'

 

He certainly has! Can't think of anyone else that can go so fast on the first lap.

 

Me too... bloodystupidexcited already and there's hours to go! Don't know what to do about napping but am bloody knackered after last night - and then missing the quali anyway! :Clown: :Bawling:

Yeah I was thinking JLo would walk it as I guess most were but Vale's found something - let's hope it works out for a battle royale!

Then again could be crap

This thread is missing an @xracer rant - wtf are ya Dick Splash?

 

evenin!