Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales will start tomorrow’s Motul Grand Prix of Japan from the second and third rows following today’s final MotoGP qualifying.

Both GSX-RR riders qualified directly through to the final Q2 from this morning’s FP3 with Espargaró fifth and Viñales sixth and in the all-important final qualifying secured sixth and seventh positions.

Espargaró’s positive day started in the morning with a solid FP3 in the top positions and a consistent and fast pace in FP4. The improvements done on his GSX-RR proved to be effective as the Spaniard could find a confident feeling with the machine, especially with the rear-end. This helped also in qualifying when Espargaró posted a 1'44.494 lap-time that gave him the second row.

Viñales’ second day in Motegi was a little more complicated. The morning session saw him make some progress, as well as the consistency test done in FP4, but he couldn’t be as effective as he wanted in qualifying, ending the session below his expectations. His race is expected to be an aggressive one, trying to be very fast at the start.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“This qualifying left us the sensation that we could have done better. Aleix has made a solid progression during all the sessions and ended FP4 with an excellent time with worn tyres, so he could have aimed for an even better position. Maverick couldn't find a proper feeling as we couldn’t finalise the best set-up for him and he couldn’t exploit all the potential. However, we find ourselves on the second and third rows, this makes things a little harder for us, but if Aleix can manage to keep the good pace he showed in FP4 - and we find a way to put Maverick in the condition to exploit all his potential - it could become a positive race for the both of them. We have to work hard tonight to prepare for the race and find further improvements.”