Valentino Rossi has admitted he was fortunate to pick up his title rival Jorge Lorenzo’s slipstream in their epic qualifying duel at Motegi. Having struggled for pace in practice, lagging behind Lorenzo by seven tenths in FP3, Rossi took a major step forward to secure second place behind the Spaniard in qualifying, missing out on a second pole of the season by less than a tenth. But the points leader admitted that he was “lucky” to gain time riding in Lorenzo’s slipstream, a state of affairs he described as normal for the rapid-fire two part qualifying format. “A lot of the time, I’m in the same situation as Jorge – doing a good lap but bringing three or four [riders] in my...
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