Live coverage from Sunday's Japanese MotoGP race at Motegi.
MotoGP title leaders Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez will start first and second on the grid in this afternoon’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Martin leads Marquez by a reduced seven points after the reigning champion won the Sprint.
Meanwhile, Martin battled late-race tyre issues, then was demoted from second to third by a post-race penalty for exceeding track limits.
However, the Aprilia star got the better of Marquez in qualifying, smashing the lap record on the new Japanese asphalt.
The front row is a replica of the Red Bull Ring with KTM’s Austrian winner Pedro Acosta in third.
Acosta and Fabio di Giannantonio were taken out by Alex Marquez on lap one of the Sprint, with the Gresini rider given a double long lap penalty for today's race.
Tyre choice will be a big question mark for the Grand Prix, with Michelin withdrawing the soft rear option and recommending the hard, which no one had used before Sunday.
It's a case of follow the leader in the early stages, Martin is 0.5s ahead of Marc Marquez who perhaps wants to keep clean air on his front tyre.
Alex Marquez is just behind Bezzecchi in fourth, but will soon peel off to serve the first of his long laps.
The top four riders - Martin, Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez - break away from Pedro Acosta, who is struggling and dropping down the order.
Acosta starts lap 3 down in 8th.
Jorge Martin leads lap one but how much should he push on the hard rear? No-one really knows!
Positions on lap 1:
1. Jorge Martin
2. Marc Marquez +0.387s
3. Marco Bezzecchi +0.563s
4. Alex Marquez +0.959s
5. Pedro Acosta +1.506s
6. Enea Bastianini +1.719s
7. Raul Fernandez +2.102s
8. Ai Ogura +2.367s
9. Francesco Bagnaia +2.468s
10. Diogo Moreira +2.754s
11. Johann Zarco +3.204s
12. Fabio Di Giannantonio +3.427s
13. Luca Marini +3.481s
14. Fabio Quartararo +3.901s
15. Brad Binder +3.975s
16. Fermin Aldeguer +4.153s
17. Franco Morbidelli +4.645s
18. Maverick Viñales +4.964s
19. Toprak Razgatlioglu +5.383s
20. Jack Miller +5.548s
21. Somkiat Chantra +5.653s
22. Alex Rins +5.952s
Pole man Jorge Martin holds off Marc Marquez at Turn 1, Marco Bezzecchi slots into third ahead of Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta.
The warm-up lap begins.
There is no last-minute gamble: All riders will use the medium front and hard rear tyres.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi underlines that it's important for Marc Marquez to maximise points today, given next weekend in Indonesia could be a tough event.
Trackhouse Aprilia team principal Davide Brivio says he has "some doubts" about whether everyone really will use the hard tyre - let's see if anyone makes a last-minute change to the medium on the grid.
For those further back, if they didn't have any blistering issues this weekend, it's worth a gamble.
After all, some riders were still planning to race the soft after the Sprint, including Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo.
It's clouded over ahead of the race, with a slim chance of rain midway through the race.
Pit lane opens and riders head to the grid.
Everyone is currently on the medium front tyre and hard (stiffer construction) rear tyre.
Jorge Martin leads Marc Marquez by just seven points...
Double long lap penalties for Alex Marquez (causing an opening lap Sprint accident) and Johann Zarco (trying to restart at the side of the track in warm-up).
Row 1: Jorge Martin (pole), Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta
Row 2: Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio
Row 3: Enea Bastianini, Raul Fernandez, Diogo Moreira
Row 4: Johann Zarco, Ai Ogura, Fabio Quartararo
Row 5: Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Somkiat Chantra
Row 6: Luca Marini, Brad Binder, Fermin Aldeguer
Row 7: Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Alex Rins
Row 8: Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The big pre-race decision is rear tyre choice, with Michelin removing the soft and recommending the hard - which hadn't been used all weekend - after blistering on the new asphalt in the Sprint.
However, the medium rear is also still available for the grand prix.
The extended 20-minute morning warm-up session saw all riders try the hard rear for the first time.
Sprint winner Marc Marquez was fastest on the hard rear, followed by the Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and title leader Jorge Martin on the medium.
The Japanese MotoGP race at Motegi starts in just under an hour.