Downpours of water fell on the Losail circuit during this first day of testing. Very few drivers therefore raced, which did not prevent Jules Danilo from setting the best time.
01- Jules Danilo – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – 2'18.849
02- Lorenzo Dalla Porta – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 0.419
03- Tony Arbolino – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.609
04- Bo Bendsneyder – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 0.750
05- Niccolò Antonelli – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.116
06- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.438
07- Patrik Pulkkinen – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 3.730
08- Albert Arenas – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 4.480
09- Tatsuki Suzuki – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 7.363
10- Kaito Toba – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 7.425
11- Nakarin Atiratphuvapat – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 8.856
Christian Korntner, Moto3 project manager at KTM, was a little worried before the start of the session: “ Sand on the track is a recurring problem here. During the Jerez* tests, we found that when conditions were hot, our cushioning was imperfect. Here overnight we need to make sure we find confidence going forward in cooler conditions. The first test in Jerez at lower temperatures went better for us. So, I fear the Qatar test a lot. »
* Combined Moto3 times from the three days of Jerez testing: 1. Nicolò Bulega (KTM) 1'46.232, 2. Aron Canet (Honda) at 0.106, 3. Jorge Martin (Honda) at 0.183, 4. Jakub Kornfeil (Peugeot ) at 0.241 5. Romano Fenati (Honda) at 0.254
In the first session, a big storm broke out just at the start of practice. Finnish rookie Patrik Pulkkinen took to the track in the opening minutes, in his Peugeot. Lorenzo Dalla Porta followed suit. Some drivers completed between two and ten laps on the wet track. Jules Danilo was fastest in the wet in 2'18.849, 0.4 ahead of Dalla Porta and 0.6 ahead of Tony Arbolino.
Then no one drove for hours, and finally the Technical Director asked the teams in the middle of the session if they wanted the rest of the test day to be canceled. After this consultation, this first day was definitively declared over.
Reference times:
Test record: 2'05.832 by Livio Loi (Honda RW Racing GP BV) in FP2 in 2016
Lap record: 2'05.862 by Alexis Masbou (Honda Ongetta-Rivacold) in 2014
Top speed: 240,3 km/h for Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 2016
Second day schedule (Saturday):
In French time
13:00 p.m. – 14:20 p.m. Moto2
14:30 p.m. – 15:50 p.m. Moto3
16:00 p.m. – 17:00 p.m. Moto2
17:10 p.m. – 18:10 p.m. Moto3
18:20 p.m. – 19:20 p.m. Moto2
19:30 p.m. – 20:30 p.m. Moto3
Third day schedule (Sunday):
Different from the second, despite appearances
13:00 p.m. – 14:20 p.m. Moto3
14:30 p.m. – 15:50 p.m. Moto2
16:00 p.m. – 17:00 p.m. Moto3
17:10 p.m. – 18:10 p.m. Moto2
18:20 p.m. – 19:20 p.m. Moto3
19:30 p.m. – 20:30 p.m. Moto2
