Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo captured his fourth pole of the season on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Japan Grand Prix, keeping his hopes of defending the title alive.
The Yamaha rider clocked one minute 53.471sec to edge out current championship leader Marc Marquez, who followed 0.658sec later on the wet Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
Lorenzo has pledged to use the two remaining races of the season to derail the Honda rookie’s attempt at the title.
Dense fog and torrential rain forced the cancellation of free practice on Friday and Saturday, and riders went straight into qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
Rain stopped shortly before the MotoGP riders hit the tarmac, but puddles remained on the track.
The track north of Tokyo also felt tremors from a powerful undersea earthquake off the northeast coast early on Saturday morning.
The quake – in the same area devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami – triggered a small tsunami in the northeast, with no reports of injuries, deaths or serious damage.
MotoGP organisers said the disruption to practice sessions could not be avoided.
Dense fog on Friday prevented medical helicopters flying to the mountainous Motegi circuit, halting all racing.