Dovizioso sets early pace in Qatar

Doha/Bengaluru, March 17: Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso started his Grand Prix of Qatar in the best possible way as the Italian ended at the top of the timing screens, stunning his rivals with a lap time of 1.54.361 at the Losail International Circuit to put him just 0.006s ahead.

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It was the perfect test for race pace in the second session of 2018 for MotoGP, as bikes take to the track at the same time as the lights will go out for the race to put track conditions to the most realistic test.

Fellow Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci of Alma Pramac Racing completed the day as top independent rider in second position, as he set his time with three minutes remaining and only beaten by his compatriot.

Alex Rins of Team Suzuki Ecstar broke the Ducati dominance in P3, sitting 0.097s behind Dovizioso after a strong session and leading the way in the final ten minutes. Rins was also the first rider to break into the 1:54 bracket.

Former world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Ducati Team secured fourth position overall while Italian Andrea Iannone of Team Suzuki Ecstar finished fifth with a lap of 1.54.841.

The FIM MotoGP World Championship builds up to the much-anticipated first race of the 2018 season. FP3 kicks off at 12.40pm local time (3.10pm IST) ahead of the fight for pole at 7.20pm (9.50pm IST), with the lights going out for the race on Sunday (March 18) at 7pm (9.30pm IST).

Lorenzo on song

The most successful rider at the venue, Jorge Lorenzo of Ducati Team secured fourth position overall around Losail, and his time of 1.54.831 was set following a busy start to his session as his Ducati caused sparks to fly on the home straight.

In the first session the Spanish rider had obtained the fifth quickest time as it was a positive outing for both the Ducati riders on the opening day of the free practice action.

Marquez sixth

Reigning world champion Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda Team was still happy despite ending the day in sixth position just 0.001 ahead of his team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

"We're happy enough with how this first day in Qatar went in general. We had the first contact with the track and had the chance to see if we were getting the same feeling we had during the test," said Marquez.

Rossi means business

MotoGP great Valentino Rossi, who signed a two-year contract extension just before the season started finished ninth in the combined time-sheets.

The Italian showed he meant business as FP1 got underway. Feeling comfortable right from the start, it wasn‘t long before he breached into the top-3. He kept up his competitive pace throughout the session and briefly topped the time-sheets with a 1‘55.723s.

Fine-tuning by Vinales

Maverick Vinales, who won the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix last year used the two 45-minute practice sessions to fine-tune his YZR-M1s' set-ups, and ended the day in 11th in the combined session times.

The Spaniard pushed on in FP2 and made the 45 minutes count. He kept up with the pace, breaching into the 1'55s-laps. He steadily improved his time, but the setting he tried in the afternoon did not give him the same feeling in the cooler conditions.