Johann Zarco produced an emphatic late display in qualifying to seal his third pole of the season at Motegi. The Frenchman, still chasing his first win this year, was the only rider to break the 1m48s barrier, while his final three laps would all have earned him pole.

As it was his fastest time, a 1m57.888s, left him almost a quarter of a second clear of the Aspar Aprilia of Hector Faubel, who demoted teammate and championship leader Nicolas Terol to third in the final minutes.

Terol was the first of the front runners to show his hand, at one point moving 0.6sec clear of the field before Zarco and Faubel's late charges left him with the final spot on the front row.

Fourth went to early pacesetter Maverick Vinales on the Blusens Aprilia, which was the last bike to get within 1s of Zarco. Alberto Moncayo's Aprilia was almost half a second back but managed to hang on to fifth, as Efren Vazquez missed out by just 0.065sec with his final flying effort.

Aprilia riders rounded out the top 10, with Sandro Cortese heading Jonas Folger, Adrian Martin and Alessandro Tonucci.

There were falls for Shun'ya Mori, on Simone Grotzki's Phonica Aprilia, and Luis Salom on the RW Racing GP. Salom fell early but did enough to secure 12th, while Mori will start from 32nd ahead of fellow Japanese riders Takehiro Yamamoto (Nobby Honda) and Jun Ohnishi (Project u Honda).

Pos  Rider                Team/Bike           Time       Gap
 1.  Johann Zarco         Ajo Derbi           1m57.888s  
 2.  Hector Faubel        Aspar Aprilia       1m58.130s  + 0.242s
 3.  Nicolas Terol        Aspar Aprilia       1m58.248s  + 0.360s
 4.  Maverick Vinales     Blusens Aprilia     1m58.458s  + 0.570s
 5.  Alberto Moncayo      Andalucia Aprilia   1m58.937s  + 1.049s
 6.  Efren Vazquez        Ajo Derbi           1m59.002s  + 1.114s
 7.  Sandro Cortese       Germany Aprilia     1m59.178s  + 1.290s
 8.  Jonas Folger         Ajo Aprilia         1m59.210s  + 1.322s
 9.  Adrian Martin        Aspar Aprilia       1m59.418s  + 1.530s
10.  Alessandro Tonucci   Italia FMI Aprilia  1m59.917s  + 2.029s
11.  Luigi Morciano       Italia FMI Aprilia  1m59.977s  + 2.089s
12.  Luis Salom           RW Aprilia          1m59.978s  + 2.090s
13.  Jakub Kornfeil       Ongetta Aprilia     2m00.143s  + 2.255s
14.  Josep Rodriguez      Blusens Aprilia     2m00.164s  + 2.276s
15.  Jasper Iwema         Ongetta Aprilia     2m00.367s  + 2.479s
16.  Marcel Schrotter     Mahindra            2m00.413s  + 2.525s
17.  Louis Rossi          Matteoni Aprilia    2m00.510s  + 2.622s
18.  Danny Kent           Ajo Aprilia         2m00.514s  + 2.626s
19.  Danny Webb           Mahindra            2m00.781s  + 2.893s
20.  Giulian Pedone       Phonica Aprilia     2m00.939s  + 3.051s
21.  Alexis Masbou        Caretta KTM         2m01.003s  + 3.115s
22.  Niklas Ajo           TT Motion Aprilia   2m01.149s  + 3.261s
23.  Zulfahmi Khairuddin  Ajo Derbi           2m01.234s  + 3.346s
24.  Harry Stafford       Ongetta Aprilia     2m01.286s  + 3.398s
25.  Hikari Ookubo        Garage Honda        2m01.422s  + 3.534s
26.  Jack Miller          Caretta KTM         2m01.442s  + 3.554s
27.  Brad Binder          Civica Aprilia      2m01.682s  + 3.794s
28.  Taylor Mackenzie     Phonica Aprilia     2m01.914s  + 4.026s
29.  Joan Perello         Matteoni Aprilia    2m01.939s  + 4.051s
30.  Sturla Fagerhaug     WTR-Ten10 Aprilia   2m02.141s  + 4.253s
31.  Hyuga Watanabe       Project u Honda     2m02.234s  + 4.346s
32.  Shun'ya Mori         Phonica Aprilia     2m02.247s  + 4.359s
33.  Takehiro Yamamoto    Nobby Honda         2m04.112s  + 6.234s
34.  Jun Ohnishi          Project u Honda     2m04.551s  + 6.663s
35.  Luca Fabrizio        WTR-Ten10 Aprilia   2m05.631s  + 7.743s