By Dean AdamsA fairly entertaining session once riders spooned on soft tires and went for it. Several riders were fastest in the session until MM93 decided to drop the pre-season facade and rocketed to the fastest time with a half second to spare.
Lorenzo is struggling with front end feel (shock!). The new seat on his bike looks like something pulled from the old stock room at a farm implement dealer.
Frankie M put his new Yamaha into the kitty litter and the bike started on fire.
The Suzukis looked fast on soft tires.
Ducati riders enjoyed the ultra-fast circuit and nearly all were able to pull a quick time.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Bike | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda | Honda RC213V | 1:53.380 |
| 2 | Maverick Vinales | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 1:53.854 |
| 3 | Jack Miller | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1:53.908 |
| 4 | Danilo Petrucci | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1:54.053 |
| 5 | Fabio Quartararo | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 1:54.154 |
| 6 | Andrea Dovizioso | Mission Winnow Ducati | Ducati | 1:54.256 |
| 7 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha M1 | 1:54.275 |
| 8 | Alex Rins | SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:54.320 |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia Racing – Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:54.367 |
| 10 | Joan Mir | SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 1:54.402 |
| 11 | Jorge Lorenzo | Repsol Honda | Honda RC213V | 1:54.428 |
| 12 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda RC213V | 1:54.444 |
| 13 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda CASTROL | Honda RC213V | 1:54.452 |
| 14 | Roger Lee Bagnaia | Alma Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1:54.801 |
| 15 | Tito Rabat | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1:55.032 |
| 16 | Pol Espargaro | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1:55.053 |
| 17 | Valentino Rossi | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 1:55.137 |
| 18 | Johann Zarco | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1:55.412 |
| 19 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia Racing – Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:55.432 |
| 20 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1:55.635 |
| 21 | Karel Abraham | Reale Avintia Racing | Ducati | 1:55.654 |
| 22 | Hafizh Syahrin | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 1:56.437 |
| 23 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia Factory Racing | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:56.834 |
Former Qatar MotoGP pole man Jonny Zarco was dead last for much of the session and his facial expression coming down the pit lane looked reminiscent of Scott Russell the first time he rode the Harley-Davidson VR 1000 Superbike at Daytona. The French rider cleaned it up enough at the end of the session to record the 18th fastest time … but is nearly an entire second off Marquez’s time.
