Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi took the pole at the Japanese MotoGP on Saturday, with teammate Jorge Lorenzo recovering from a horrifying crash in practice to qualify third.
Rossi, second in the championship race 52 points behind Marc Marquez, lapped the Motegi circuit in 1 minute, 43.954 seconds.
Rossi's teammate Lorenzo earlier escaped serious injury after his bike high-sided near turn two and hurled him into the air before he slammed back down on his back.
The Spaniard was air-lifted to hospital for tests but returned to the track.