Jorge Lorenzo pipped his Yamaha teammate and championship rival Valentino Rossi in Japanese MotoGP qualifying in Motegi on Saturday, grabbing pole position with his final lap of the session and putting himself in the best possible position to make up his championship deficit in Sunday's race.
Lorenzo was peerless for most of qualifying on Saturday, but seven-time world champion Rossi gave him as much as he could handle, taking provisional pole position with his final lap before Lorenzo went 0.081 seconds faster to take the top spot, setting a new qualifying track record in the process.
"I made the maximum and it is a good lap time," said a happy Lorenzo after the session.