DOHA: Defending world champion Marc Marquez kicked off the new season with the fastest time in the first free practice session at Losail International Circuit last night.
Marquez finished with a time of 1’55.281, only seven-hundredths of a second faster than his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa (+0.076s), as riders took to the track for the first time in the 2015 MotoGP season.
Aleix Espargaro (+0.404s) managed to end the session in third place, as he took advantage of the softer tyre option which was available to Team Suzuki Ecstar, as part of the concessions given to factory teams without a race win since 2013.
Cal Crutchlow (+0.537s), on his CMW LCR Honda, was the top satellite rider in fifth place with Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci just a further one-tenth of a second back in sixth. Petrucci also used the softer tyre option on his Ducati GP14.1.
The Italian had to run back to the pits for his second bike
after experiencing issues with his first, but he managed to finish the session ahead of the factory Ducati of Dovizioso (+0.699s), in eighth place, and Iannone (+1.034s) in 10th on the GP15 bike.
The fastest open-class rider was Stefan Bradl (+1.296s) in 14th on the Athina Forward Racing machine.
MotoGP action continues today at 6pm for Free Practice 2.
Lowes breaks Moto2 circuit record at Losail
Earlier, Sam Lowes was quickest during the first practice session of the Moto2 World Championship, breaking the Moto2 circuit record in Qatar.
Speed Up Racing’s Lowes shared the lead halfway through the session with Johann Zarco, on the Ajo Motorsport Kalex bike, as both riders set identical times.
In a frantic finish, it was the British rider who finished on top with a time of 1’59.717, as he managed to beat Maverick Vinales’ Circuit Record of 2’00.081 and in the process became the first rider to ever break the two-minute mark around the Losail International Circuit in the Moto2 class.
Lowes beat Zarco (+0.622s) into second by over half a second, with reigning Moto2 Champion Tito Rabat (+1.063s) ending the session in third after completing 20 laps around the 5.4km circuit, which is exactly the same distance as the race that will take place on Sunday.
It was a difficult session for Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Luis Salom who had problems with his bike, having to head back to the pits on his out lap and then crashing after returning to the track.
Class rookie Alex Marquez, Rabat’s team-mate, also had some issues with his bike, returning to his garage for repairs after just three laps and only managing to finish in 18th overall on the Estrella Galicia 0.0 Marc VDS machine.
Kent tops Moto3 time-sheets
Also last night, the first Free Practice session for the 2015 Moto3 season in Qatar ended with Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent topping the time-sheets.
Despite earlier strong winds, there didn’t appear to be too much dust on the racing line as Kent managed to get within eight-tenths of the circuit record, a 2’05.862 set by Alexis Masbou last year.
The British rider set his time of 2’06.60, on his last lap just as the session ended, managing to finish ahead of Miguel Oliveira (+0.098s) on the KTM Red Bull Ajo machine and Italian Niccolo Antonelli (+0.836s).
Before the session started it was announced that RBA Racing Team’s Ana Carrasco had been deemed unfit to race after breaking her collarbone at the Jerez test. So she didn’t take to the track and her replacement, Belgian Loris Cresson, is being flown out to Qatar.
There was an early crash for Darryn Binder on the Outox Reset Drink Team Mahindra, but luckily he was unhurt and after a few quick repairs he was back out on the track, ending the session in 32nd place.
THE PENINSULA
