MotoGP of Japan 2013 Qualifying: Full List of Results and Times

Despite the weather attempting to ruin qualifying, Jorge Lorenzo emerged triumphant and will start from the front in the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan.

Due to the weather, the qualifying period was amended to a single 75-minute session, replacing the standard 15-minute Q1 and Q2 periods.

Lorenzo's intensity gave him his second pole position in the space of a week, which was made more impressive by the fact that no one past third place got within a second of his time.

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	293.8	1'53.471
2	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	301.5	1'54.129	0.658 / 0.658
3	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	293.7	1'54.539	1.068 / 0.410
4	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	300.8	1'54.542	1.071 / 0.003
5	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	295.8	1'54.732	1.261 / 0.190
6	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	295.8	1'55.036	1.565 / 0.304
7	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	Honda	299.6	1'55.135	1.664 / 0.099
8	6	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	299.0	1'55.610	2.139 / 0.475
9	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	288.7	1'55.719	2.248 / 0.109
10	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Ignite Pramac Racing	Ducati	294.2	1'55.998	2.527 / 0.279
11	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	293.7	1'56.058	2.587 / 0.060
12	21	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	Yamaha YSP Racing Team	Yamaha	294.0	1'56.125	2.654 / 0.067
13	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	289.3	1'57.114	3.643 / 0.989
14	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	284.2	1'57.297	3.826 / 0.183
15	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Energy T.I. Pramac Racing	Ducati	288.9	1'57.347	3.876 / 0.050
16	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	281.8	1'57.540	4.069 / 0.193
17	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	281.7	1'57.715	4.244 / 0.175
18	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Avintia Blusens	FTR	287.6	1'57.994	4.523 / 0.279
19	70	Michael LAVERTY	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	283.7	1'58.540	5.069 / 0.546
20	23	Luca SCASSA	ITA	Cardion AB Motoracing	ART	281.9	1'58.802	5.331 / 0.262
21	71	Claudio CORTI	ITA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	FTR Kawasaki	282.3	1'59.617	6.146 / 0.815
22	8	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Avintia Blusens	FTR	284.4	1'59.646	6.175 / 0.029
23	50	Damian CUDLIN	AUS	Paul Bird Motorsport	PBM	280.5	2'00.982	7.511 / 1.336
	67	Bryan STARING	AUS	GO&FUN Honda Gresini	FTR Honda	274.9	2'02.712	9.241 / 1.730
	52	Lukas PESEK	CZE	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	277.9	2'02.932	9.461 / 0.220

The day began on a very wet track, with some remnants still remaining of the fog and rain that had cancelled all previous practices.

Nicky Hayden threatened to steal pole for Ducati with a strong showing, but as the track continued to dry out he was dethroned by Dani Pedrosa and his Honda.

However, when Lorenzo took to the track he immediately assumed the top spot, only stretching his lead with each trip round the circuit.

His countryman and title rival Marc Marquez had a mixed day, taking a couple of trips into the gravel but still managing to post a time 0.658 of a second back from Lorenzo.

Marquez will be well aware of the importance of this race to his title hopes. The 20-year-old's remarkable rookie season will be capped off with a championship if he can outscore Lorenzo by eight points in Japan.

The Repsol Honda rider will be keen to make amends for the Australian round, which saw him disqualified after failing to pit at the required time. Due to tyre safety concerns, riders were instructed to change bikes midrace. 

Because he didn't abide by this, Marquez scored no points for the race, while Lorenzo gained the maximum 25. This changed the race to the title dramatically and gave Lorenzo a bigger window to attack in Japan. 

Marquez has become an incredibly popular figure in a short space of time, but his choice of shirt for Japan left a lot to be desired, and frankly shouldn't have been allowed near anyone with a camera:

Prior to Australia, it seemed that the title was going to no one but Marquez. Following the race, Lorenzo admitted to BBC Sport that he had been very lucky in Australia:

"

Without the mistake from Marc I think he would have been first or second—now the championship has changed so much.

Before the race we had no chance - a 2% or 3% chance - and now it's 20% or 30%.

"

Nevertheless, Lorenzo needed no luck on the Motegi Circuit, and his dominant times reflected that. He will be unwilling to give up his status as World Champion without a fight.