Pirelli SCX record pole for Gonzalez in Moto2 and Rueda polesitter in Moto3

· Manuel Gonzalez (Kalex) took pole position for the Moto2™ race of the Japanese Grand Prix with a record time of 1’47.925 which allowed him to improve the all-time lap record he set in 2024 by 1.8 seconds (1’49.711). Behind him were Daniel Holgado and David Alonso respectively for an all-Kalex front row. In qualifying, all the riders used soft SC1 front and supersoft SCX rear tyres.

· José Antonio Rueda (KTM) took pole position in Moto3™ on his last flying lap with a time of 1’54.826, missing the all-time lap record by just 65 thousandths. Two other KTM riders complete the front row, Valentin Perrone in second position and Joel Kelso, third. All the riders used soft SC1 compound tyres for the rear, with different choices for the front: Rueda and Perrone opted for the medium SC2 while Kelso used the soft SC1.

· Qualifying, held for both classes with almost 50 degrees Celsius of track temperature, was the hottest session so far. Until Saturday morning, the conditions were similar on these first two days, with mainly sunny skies and track temperatures fluctuating for both classes by about 10 degrees Celsius between the morning sessions (FP1 and FP2), held with just over 30 °C, and yesterday afternoon’s Practice, held with just over 40 degrees on the asphalt.

The supersoft rear in Moto2™ proved to be the right choice for Motegi
 
“Last season, the allocation for Moto2™ dedicated to the Japanese GP included the soft SC0 and medium SC1 rears and all the riders used the SC0 to compensate for the lack of natural grip offered by the asphalt with the soft compound. After noticing that the Motegi track offers little grip resulting in a lot of sliding but, at the same time, little tyre wear, this year we decided to offer an even softer option, the supersoft SCX, keeping the soft SC0 as a second alternative in case the SCX did not meet expectations. This was not the case – on the contrary, it greatly exceeded them: already in FP1 on Friday morning seven riders lapped below the all-time lap record, a goal reached today in qualifying by practically all the riders with Gonzalez who in the end improved the track record he set last year by almost 2 seconds. Moreover, long runs equal to the race distance have already been achieved in the practice sessions with excellent results in terms of performance consistency, therefore, it is easy to predict that tomorrow the SCX will be the unanimous choice for the race in combination with the soft SC1 for the front axle. In Moto3™, the riders have the same options they had available last year with the soft SC1 as the softer tyre at the rear that will also be the protagonist of the race, in this case mostly coupled with soft SC1 for Honda riders and medium SC2 for KTM ones”.