Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) will start from pole for his home Grand Prix after an incredible final shootout in qualifying at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, snatching the honour from Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) on his final push as conditions went from marginal to slicks within the session. The Japanese rider had been well outside the top twenty in the initial stages but bounced back in style. Marquez starts from P2 after recovering from an early throttle problem, ahead of Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing), who was another to time his attack to perfection – taking his first front row start.