Qatar MotoGP Sunday Race Day Guide

The last time that the grid positions were taken on combined free practice times was in Portugal in 2010 when torrential rain caused the qualifying sessions to be cancelled in all three classes.

Maverick Viñales starts from pole for the first time since moving up to the MotoGP class, adding to his previous poles in Moto2 and Moto3, to become the first rider to start from pole across all three current classes. He is aiming to be second youngest rider of all-time, after Mike Hailwood (Norton & MV Agusta), to have won in the premier-class on bikes from two different manufacturers.

Andrea Iannone starts from the middle of the front row – the best ever grid position for a Suzuki rider in Qatar.
Marc Marquez is in third place on the grid to make it three different manufacturers represented on the front row. The win in 2014 by Marquez was the last time that a Honda rider stood on the top step of the podium in Qatar.

Heading the second row of the grid is MotoGP rookie Johann Zarco. This is the best grid position in the MotoGP class by a rookie at the opening race of the year since 2008 when Jorge Lorenzo was on pole and James Toseland qualified in second place on the grid.
This is the first time ever that all of the top four positions on the MotoGP grid have graduated from the Moto2 class.
Andrea Dovizioso, who has finished second for the last two years in Qatar, is the highest placed Ducati rider on the grid in fifth place.

In the final place on the second row is Scott Redding – his best grid position since he was third fastest qualifier at the Dutch TT last year.
Dani Pedrosa, who is making his 12th start in the MotoGP class at the Losail circuit, starts from the head of the third row. Pedrosa has scored points in all of his 11 previous appearances at Qatar in the MotoGP class.

Jonas Folger, who has starts from eighth place on the grid, is the only one of the four rookies in the MotoGP class this year to have previously won at Qatar in any of the smaller classes, having taken the Moto2 victory there in 2015.
In 10th place on the grid is Valentino Rossi, who won in Qatar two years ago after qualifying down in eighth place on the grid.
Last year’s winner in Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo, starts from 12th place on the grid, which is the first time that he has not been on either the first or second row the Losail circuit.

MotoGP 2017 – Round One – Qatar – Day Two Combined Free Practice Times

Moto2

Franco Morbidelli in his 54th GP appearance starts from pole for the first time in his grand prix career. He becomes the fifth Italian rider to start from pole in Moto2 and the first since Simone Corsi in Aragon in 2012. Morbidelli was the second rider across the line in 2016 at Losail, but was later handed with a 20 second penalty due to jump start demoting him to seventh.

Starting from second on the grid is his team-mate Álex Márquez, equalling his best grid position in the Moto2 class, from Aragon last year. He started from 12th on the grid last year in Qatar but crashed during the race.
Tom Lüthi starts from third, his 37th front row start in 250cc/Moto2. He won the Moto2 race last year in Qatar from ninth on the grid – his sixth win in this class.
Takaaki Nakagami will head the second row on the grid, his best result since his third place in Aragon last year. He started from ninth on the grid last year and eventually crossed the line in 14th after being handed a ride through penalty due to a jump start.
Miguel Oliveira will start from the middle of the second row, his best grid position since he stepped up to the Moto2 class last year.
Danny Kent starts from sixth on the grid, his best ever starting place in his Moto2 career. This is also the best result for Suter since Xavier Simeon was the fifth fastest qualifier at Valencia in 2014.

Moto3

Jorge Martín starts from pole for the first time in his GP career. Before, his best result was a third place in Brno last year. He becomes the ninth Spanish rider to start from pole in Moto3.

Philipp Öttl appearing in his 71st GP, starts from second on the grid, his second front row of his grand prix career along with his pole position in Austin last season. This is the 22nd front row from a German rider in Moto3 shared with Sandro Cortese, Jonas Folger.

Romano Fenati starts from third on the grid after being on pole last year and finishing in fourth. Fenati finished second at Losail when making his grand prix debut in 2012.
Bo Bendsneyder will head the second row in fourth, equalling his best grid position from Sachsenring last year.
Niccolò Antonelli, who won the race last year, will start from the middle of the second row – his best grid position since Silverstone last year.