Raul Fernandez will have to go through Q1 at the Japanese MotoGP after ending Practice 13th-fastest at Motegi. The Trackhouse Aprilia rider believes he had the pace to qualify directly for Q2, but a brake problem during his time-attack lap left him running wide and unable to maintain consistent braking performance. Team-mate Ai Ogura will also start from Q1 after his primary motorcycle stopped early in the afternoon session, triggering the red flags.

A step forward that did not survive the attack lap

Fernandez’s comments after the session combined satisfaction with clear frustration. He said acceleration had been a critical area before the previous race in Austria, and that he now felt considerably more comfortable in that part of the bike’s performance. The improvements came from work carried out before the Motegi weekend and further changes made between FP1 and Practice. Fernandez credited the Trackhouse engineers with making one or two steps forward, saying the bike was now competitive in that area.

The team also had a demanding tyre programme to complete. It needed to understand both rear compounds, while the front tyre normally used at Motegi was limited to five available tyres. Fernandez said the team managed that plan well and finished the session with a good understanding of the rear tyre. That progress, however, was not enough to produce a clean time-attack lap.

Under maximum attack, Fernandez found the brake feel inconsistent and was wide too many times at the braking points. He described the result as frustrating because he felt everything needed for direct Q2 entry was in place. The immediate priority before the next session is to determine why the brake performance became unstable and find a solution. Fernandez said the team was otherwise ready and that the remaining task was to bring the improvements together for a complete lap.