Maverick Vinales held on to his premier spot on the second day of free practice. He didn’t improve his time, but led the generally slower third session anyway, and heads the crucial top ten into Q2 tomorrow.
The man he replaced at Movistar Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo, was the opposite. In his first race for Ducati, he will have to go through Q1 after placing 12th, narrowly failing to improve his time enough at the end.
Vinales was typically self-contained. “My riding style is very similar to the Suzuki,” he explained later. “The difference is acceleration. I have more grip, so I can be faster.”
He had fallen unhurt in the morning; his first tumble from a Yamaha.
Lorenzo almost made the top ten at the close, only to be firmly disposed of by a late charge from Andrea Iannone (Ecstar Suzuki), who leapt from 17th on the sheets to second overall in the closing minutes of the last session of a night that was still cool, but not as windy as the previous evening.
“I don’t know if I was on the limit on that lap,” said the Italian. “You never know. Perhaps tomorrow will be different. But to catch Vinales … that’s another story.”
Marc Marquez was a safe third; Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa less impressive but also safe in seventh.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) scraped in to tenth, troubled by his continuing dislike of the new softer-construction Michelin.
The two Monster Yamaha rookies, by contrast, confirmed their strong testing form: Johann Zarco fourth-fastest, ahead of the Ducatis of Dovizioso and session-two surprise leader Scott Redding.
Jonas Folger was eighth, beyond Pedrosa, but ahead of a late-improving Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), who then crashed heavily trying to climb higher, after being slowed by a vexatious Karel Abraham. “It made my front tyre too cold. I was pushing because I didn’t know I was in the top ten,” he said.
Marc VDS Kalex team-mates Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez led Moto2 free practice, separated by less than three hundredths of a second; with hardly a bigger gap to yesterday’s top time, set by Thomas Luthi (CarXpert Kalex).
With Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Kalex) fourth, Miguel Oliveira on the new Red Bull KTM fifth and Danny Kent on the returned Suter sixth, times were close. The top 22 were within one second, with Moto3 champion Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) occupying that slot.
Australian Remy Gardner was 23rd in his first outing on the Tech 3.
Moto3 free practice was finally led by ex-Mahindra rider Jorge Martin, now on a Gresini Honda, displacing yesterday’s leader Peter Oettl (Schedl KTM), who did not improve his time from yesterday.
Returned bad-boy Romano Fenati (Rivacold Honda) was a close third after cutting half-a-second off from yesterday. Then the Red Bull KTM pair, Bo Bendsneyder ahead of ex-Honda rider Niccolo Antonelli.
Fancied runner Nicolo Bulega (SKY VR46 KTM) was 14th, almost a second down; rookie Marco Bezzechi was top-placed Mahindra, 21st.
Ducati’s radical aerodynamic fairing is unlikely to be seen again in the form tested at Qatar; but a different configuration remains possible, with the Italians planning further tests at Jerez.
All entrants had to homologate their 2017 fairings by race eve at Qatar; but are allowed one update during the season, which they can introduce at any time they like. Thus Ducati, and all the others, still have one chance to bring in something different.
Until the update, they are also allowed to use a 2016 fairing with any wings removed; but Ducati confirmed that the wingless bodywork they sported at Qatar was the new 2017 version.
The same was true for the other teams, with only Suzuki using a ducted fairing.
FIM technical boss Danny Aldridge confirmed that all are free to do what they like within the ducts – including Ducati, with their huge loops. “They are free to put wings or whatever they like inside.
Jack Miller marked a better day after his tumble yesterday, placed 16th on the VDS Honda, but admitting that he is still struggling with corner exit speed and top speed – RC213V problems not solved by the new big bang engine configuration.
“We’re doing lots of work with mapping with the new engine, but it’s still lacking. The engine is smoother; I prefer the characteristics, but it’s the same problem as last year,” he said.
“The strong point is still corner entry. I don’t think the position shows where we should be. I feel faster, and our race pace is good.”
He was, however, “happy to stay on, and improve my time. It was real windy, a gusting tailwind at an angle into Turn One. I even had to change the line a bit to be less time at maximum lean, because it was getting right under the bike.”
Moto3 rider Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA KTM) became the first injury victim of the season, flying to Spain on Thursday evening after breaking his right collarbone, hoping that a quick fix will have him ready to race in his home Argentine GP in two weeks.
Rodrigo had just set third-fastest time when he fell, and ended up ninth overall. But absent.
With no convenient rain on Thursday night to allow tests under lights, and a dry Friday, the possibility of race-day rain remained a growing threat, with Dorna facing the possibility of radical changes to avoid cancellation.
The races are scheduled to start at 6pm (Moto3), concluding with MotoGP starting at 9pm; but if rain is threatening and there has been no chance for riders to test in wet and dark conditions, the schedule might be changed to run the races in the afternoon.
Management sources said this was preferable to postponing the races until Monday, as happened in 2009.
Hitherto, rain racing under spotlights was considered impossible due to the dazzle factor on the slick track and in the spray; but Franco Uncini and Loris Capirossi ran a test on an artificially wet track in February, and felt the concerns were exaggerated.
But following a hire car is one thing; setting off a pack of 25 MotoGP bikes quite another, and no final decision will be made until riders have been able to test, and express their opinion.
The best result would be rain on Saturday evening, so that tests could take place – but erratic weather patterns can make no promises. There was a heavy rain-storm at lunchtime today (Friday); but conditions were dry by the time practice began.
Match-fixing on motorbikes? Some might think that riders’ egos would be enough to rule it out, but Dorna has taken further steps with new partners Sportradar Integrity Services, with a first session held at Losail, attended by team managers and other personnel.
Sportradar gave a talk focused on forms of cheating and sporting corruption, with “a host of examples from other sports of how innocent-seeming situations can change,” according to a statement.
by Michael Scott
