Moto3 #QatarGP Losail FP1: Enea Bastianini first leader by 0.009

Bastianini managed to beat Aron Canet, Jorge Martin, John McPhee, Marco Bezzecchi, Andrea Migno and Fabio di Giannantonio by nine thousandths of a second in the first free practice session.

Moto3™ #QatarGP Losail Qatar	2017	2018
FP1	2'06.981 Philipp Oettl	2'07.741 Enea Bastianini
FP2	2'07.955 Bo Bendsneyder
FP3	2'06.817 Jorge Martin
Qualification	Canceled due to rain
Warm Up	2'09.331 Joan Mir
Course	Mir, McPhee, Martin
All time lap record	2'05.832 Livio Law 2016

For this first official free practice session of the season, the air temperature was 31° and that of the track was 46°. On the technical side, the novelty was the absence of the Indian manufacturer Mahindra, which left Honda and KTM alone. The session started with a slight delay due to a red flag during the previous Asia Talent Cup practice. Thanks to the running of this promotion cup, the track was relatively clean, with a little sand. The first to set off was Kazuki Masaki, new teammate of gabriel rodrigo.

George Martin established the first reference time in 2'08.659, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi et Ayumu Sasaki. Sasaki fell lightly in turn 6, then managed to restart his Honda to return to his pit box.

Darryn binder experienced the same mishap in turn 15, without any unfortunate consequences. This year he is the only rider on Aki Ajo's team in the Moto3 category.

George Martin retained the lead by picking up the pace with a time of 2'08.547. Enea Bastianini climbed into second position in 2'08.790, on his Leopard Racing Honda, 0.243 behind Martin. He preceded Bezzecchi in third by 0.045. Two Hondas were then ahead of four KTMs.

With 23 minutes to go, Bastianini took the best time in 2'08.266, 0.281 ahead of Martin. Niccolo Antonelli fell in turn 7, without gravity, then twentieth on a Honda from the Sic58 Squadra Corse team of Paolo Simoncelli.

George Martin was the first of the leaders to leave the pits halfway through the session. Second behind Enea Bastianini, he then preceded the two teammates of the PrustelGP team Marco Bezzecchi et Jakub Kornfeil. John mcphee occupied fifth position for Alain Bronec's CIP team, ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio, teammate of Jorge Martin at Fausto Gresini.

11 minutes from the checkered flag, George Martin took command again in 2'08.111, 0.155 ahead of Enea Bastianini and 0.724 on Marco Bezzecchi. Then Aron canet became the fastest on track in 2'07.750, becoming the first driver under 2'08. But Jorge Martin responded quickly, moving up to 0.012 from the Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0. Enea Bastianini third was half a second behind the two Spaniards. Four Hondas then occupied the first four positions.

The leading drivers took to the track with less than three minutes to go, intending to be able to put in a fast lap without having a group stuck to their rear wheel. The tactic proved effective in Enea Bastianini who set the best time in 2'07.741, preceding Aron Canet of 0.009, then George Martin, John mcphee, Marco Bezzecchi, Andrea Migno et Fabio di Giannantonio.

Results of the first free practice session  :

1 33 Enea BASTIANINI ITA Leopard Racing HONDA 2'07.741 12 12 234.5
2 44 Aron CANET SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 HONDA 2'07.750 10 15 0.009 0.009 230.9
3 88 Jorge MARTIN SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 HONDA 2'07.762 11 13 0.021 0.012 235.7
4 17 John MCPHEE GBR CIP – Green Power KTM 2'08.541 14 14 0.800 0.779 235.8
5 12 Marco BEZZECCHI ITA PruestlGP KTM 2'08.577 15 16 0.836 0.036 234.4
6 16 Andrea MIGNO ITA Angel Nieto Team Moto3 KTM 2'08.579 14 14 0.838 0.002 234.4
7 21 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO ITA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 HONDA 2'08.655 12 13 0.914 0.076 232.1
8 27 Kaito TOBA JPN Honda Team Asia HONDA 2'08.823 15 16 1.082 0.168 237.3
9 84 Jakub KORNFEIL CZE PruestlGP KTM 2'08.917 9 16 1.176 0.094 234.3
10 48 Lorenzo DALLA PORTA ITA Leopard Racing HONDA 2'08.952 11 14 1.211 0.035 236.5
11 65 Philipp OETTL GER Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing KTM 2'08.971 10 11 1.230 0.019 236.1
12 8 Nicolo BULEGA ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM 2'08.973 11 12 1.232 0.002 233.6
13 76 Makar YURCHENKO KAZ CIP – Green Power KTM 2'09.071 12 14 1.330 0.098 231.3
14 72 Alonso LOPEZ SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 HONDA 2'09.123 11 16 1.382 0.052 231.0
15 24 Tatsuki SUZUKI JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse HONDA 2'09.168 9 12 1.427 0.045 232.2
16 75 Albert ARENAS SPA Angel Nieto Team Moto3 KTM 2'09.182 6 13 1.441 0.014 232.1
17 41 Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAP THA Honda Team Asia HONDA 2'09.240 14 16 1.499 0.058 233.0
18 7 Adam NORRODIN MAL Petronas Sprinta Racing HONDA 2'09.255 7 14 1.514 0.015 236.9
19 42 Marcos RAMIREZ SPA Bester Capital Dubai KTM 2'09.284 11 11 1.543 0.029 233.3
20 23 Niccolò ANTONELLI ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse HONDA 2'09.329 10 11 1.588 0.045 228.4
21 71 Ayumu SASAKI JPN Petronas Sprinta Racing HONDA 2'09.387 10 11 1.646 0.058 233.5
22 19 Gabriel RODRIGO ARG RBA BOE Skull Rider KTM 2'09.469 14 15 1.728 0.082 235.6
23 11 Livio LOI BEL Reale Avintia Academy KTM 2'09.500 5 15 1.759 0.031 232.5
24 22 Kazuki MASAKI JPN RBA BOE Skull Rider KTM 2'09.708 16 16 1.967 0.208 232.0
25 5 Jaume MASIA SPA Bester Capital Dubai KTM 2'09.721 12 13 1.980 0.013 228.9
26 10 Dennis FOGGIA ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM 2'10.047 12 16 2.306 0.326 231.7
27 14 Tony ARBOLINO ITA Marinelli Snipers Team HONDA 2'10.070 11 15 2.329 0.023 233.2
28 40 Darryn BINDER RSA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 2'10.497 11 11 2.756 0.427 231.6

Reference times:

Practice record: 2'05.832 by Livio Loi (Honda RW Racing GP BV) in 2016 during FP2

Pole position record: 2'05.973 by Alex Rins (Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0) in 2014

Lap record: 2'05.862 by Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) in 2014

Best top speed: 240,3 km/h for Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 2016

Photos Motogp.com