The Spanish Marc Márquez (Honda), current world champion, opened the new motorcycling season by dominating with authority the free practice day of the Qatar Grand Prix, the first date of the course.
Márquez dominated the time sheet for the day (1 minute, 53 seconds, 380 thousandths), which combines the times of the first and second free practice sessions, by 474 thousandths of a second over his compatriot Maverick Viñales (Yamaha).
The world champion also broke by 3 tenths of a second the track record, which had been set last year by Frenchman Johann Zarco.
Australian Jack Miller was third this Friday with his Pramac satellite team Ducati, ahead of Italian Danilo Petrucci, with an official Ducati, and young French rookie Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha-SRT).
Márquez’s new teammate at Honda, fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who is recovering from a broken wrist, barely managed to set the eleventh best time on Friday, while Italian veteran Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) posted the sixteenth best time of the season. day in Losail, being the only rider to have achieved a better time in the first session than in the second.
Two more free practice sessions will take place on Saturday, before the qualifying session, which will determine the order of the starting grid.
This qualifying session will take place between 8:00 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. GMT). Sunday’s Grand Prix start in the premier class is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT).
– Combined classification of the first sessions (1 and 2) of free trials of the Qatar Grand Prix:
– MotoGP:
1. Marc Marquez (ESP / Honda) 1: 53.380
2. Maverick Viñales (ESP / Yamaha) at 0.474
3. Jack Miller (AUS / Ducati-Pramac) at 0.528
4. Danilo Petrucci (ITA / Ducati) at 0.673
5. Fabio Quartararo (FRA / Yamaha-SRT) at 0.774
6. Andrea Dovizosio (ITA / Ducati) at 0.876
7. Franco Morbidelli (ITA / Yamaha-SRT) at 0.895
8. Alex Rins (ESP / Suzuki) at 0.940
9. Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) at 0.987
10. Joan Mir (ESP / Suzuki) to 1,022
11. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP / Honda) at 1,048
…
16. Valentino Rossi (ITA / Yamaha). AFP