Early joy for Italian star

Motegi – Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (above) fanned his flickering MotoGP title hopes by clocking the fastest time in free practice yesterday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Italian set a time of one minute, 45.358 seconds in the morning session, edging out Cal Crutchlow (Honda), Johann Zarco (Yamaha) and Honda’s Marc Marquez, who can secure a third straight title this weekend.

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa topped the timesheets in a damp afternoon session with a 1:48.136 as riders and mechanics kept one eye on the darkening skies.

Meanwhile, three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo pulled out of the race after deeming his fractured wrist had not healed sufficiently.

Marquez, who leads Dovizioso by 77 points with just a maximum 100 points available from the final four races, can join Australian legend Mick Doohan on five premier class world titles depending on where his Italian rival finishes.

The 25-year-old Spaniard would only trail Italians Valentino Rossi, who won the last of his seven championships in 2009, and Giacomo Agostini, whose eighth came in 1975.

Dovizioso, who finished runner-up last season, won in Japan last year but even a repeat may not be enough to dash the Spanish star’s hat-trick hopes.

Marquez’s younger brother Alex suffered a heavy fall after clipping a wet kerb in Moto2 practice and flipped over his handlebars, but walked away unscathed. –