A lot has changed in the ten years since Jorge Lorenzo set the world alight on his premier class debut, but the Qatar pole lap record hadn’t. Set by the Majorcan in 2008, the Losail laptime remained steadfast in the record books for a decade and was the oldest of its kind until Saturday of the 2018 Qatar GP and a scorcher from Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). The Frenchman, now heading into his second season, marked his return to the venue at which he first led a premier class race in serious style – uncatchable ahead of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) to set a 1:53.680. So the reigning Champion starts his title defence from two tenths behind in second, and top Ducati Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) completes the front row and the trio of those who broke the record. With strong winds throughout the day and the track temperature cooling as night fell for qualifying, the session revealed another piece in the puzzle of the first race of the year. Behind the top three, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was next up heading the second row to make it 75% Independent Team riders in the top four, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) – the man on provisional pole after the first run – taking the middle of Row 2. But Marquez says the 2017 Championship runner up has the best race pace – something that will be revealed on Sunday. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), meanwhile, kept his great pace at Losail rolling for his best ever qualifying position to lock out the second row, after Suzuki mounted the biggest challenge to Ducati on Friday. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) heads up an all-star Row 3 with some serious potential for fireworks, with 17 World Championships crammed into three grid places as the Spaniard heads Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Ducati Team’s Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo, who suffered some technical trouble in FP4, says he is out of position – and Rossi says the battle at the front could be more than ten riders. And Lorenzo, as well as being the previous pole record holder, is also the most successful rider at Losail across all classes – but Rossi beats him in the premier class with four to Lorenzo’s three wins. Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) completed the top ten after moving through Q1, with Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) two tenths back in P11 to make it more than ten riders within a second of pole. Meanwhile,  2017 polesitter and winner Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lines up in P12 – but also showed incredible consistency on a long run in FP4…

Cal Crutchlow #35 – 4th ( 1.54,072)

“We were happy enough wih fourth, although I was a little disappointed not to break the 1.54 bracket. Congratulations to the front three though, because they rode so well to be at that pace in those conditions. It was a busy and hectic session, but now we have to concentrate on the race which is the most important part of the weekend. I feel I have great pace, I feel very comfortable and very confident ahead of tomorrow, but I’m also aware it’s a long season of 19 Grands Prix and to start it off in a good way would be fantastic.”

 

Results Q1 & Q2 combined:

Pos	Rider	Team	Fastest lap
1	Johann ZARCO	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’53.680
2	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	1’53.882
3	Danilo PETRUCCI	Alma Pramac Racing	1’53.887
4	Cal CRUTCHLOW	LCR Honda CASTROL	1’54.072
5	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati Team	1’54.074
6	Alex RINS	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1’54.339
7	Dani PEDROSA	Repsol Honda Team	1’54.368
8	Valentino ROSSI	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1’54.389
9	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati Team	1’54.431
10	Jack MILLER	Alma Pramac Racing	1’54.449
11	Andrea IANNONE	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1’54.619
12	Maverick VIÑALES	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1’54.707
13	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1’55.140
14	Franco MORBIDELLI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	1’55.169
15	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’55.258
16	Tito RABAT	Reale Avintia Racing	1’55.273
17	Scott REDDING	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1’55.380
18	Thomas LUTHI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	1’55.381
19	Karel ABRAHAM	Angel Nieto Team	1’55.392
20	Bradley SMITH	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1’55.553
21	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Angel Nieto Team	1’55.638
22	Pol ESPARGARO	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1’55.706
23	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	1’56.401
24	Xavier SIMEON	Reale Avintia Racing	1’56.545

 

Source :motogp.com, lcr.mc