Maverick Viñales has often been strong at the Lusail International Circuit in the past, and the positive step made at the last round in Austin allowed ‘Top Gun’ to arrive in Doha with good confidence, after the Spaniard admitted having felt competitive all weekend in Texas. The progress forward was soon confirmed today for Maverick when the number 12, a two-time winner here in Doha in the premier class, found pace early into the day to place his KTM in the middle of all Ducatis in P5, with a 1'53.162 (+0.874). Heading to the night shift at 20:00 after the night fell in Doha, an extremely fast and competitive session pushed all riders to test their limits to get the fastest lap. The schedule was busy for Maverick, with 5 different runs. As he progressively settled into the session, Viñales’ best after the first half hour was a 1'53.037, before things got serious and riders took things to another level. Clocking under the 1’52, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider made a top 10 entrance with a 1’51.825 in run 3. Sectors continued to turn red for Top Gun when he next rode a 1’51.455 that provisionally had him in the top 5 with a bit more than 10 min to go. The number 12 returned to the pit box for the final changes before heading out for the final run. However, he could not improve after Jack Miller’s crash in sector 2 forced race direction to wave the yellow flag. That best lap in 1’51.455 remained his fastest, enough for him to finish in 8th, and secure a second direct Q2 ticket heading to Super Saturday.

Enea Bastianini’s adaptation to the RC16 continued in Doha, but Friday turned out to be a bit under the expectations for Bestia, normally fast at the Lusail International Circuit. Enea rode a best in 1'53.726 in the morning’s Free Practice 1 after 17 laps. However, the Italian quickly pointed out some areas of struggles early into the session, with some vibration issues at the front bothering him again. In the evening’s Practice, Bastianini chose to stick with a group led by Francesco Bagnaia, allowing him to benefit a bit more from the pace at the front. Enea improved to a 1’52.005, however, the Ducati Factory rider eventually cut his efforts with the yellow flag, and no further improvements were made. That’s P16 for Enea Bastianini who will have a lot of data to study tonight to try arriving to Super Saturday in the best shape possible. MotoGP™ will be back with Free Practice 2 at 15:00 local time (UTC+3), followed by the qualifying sessions. Then, don’t miss the Tissot Sprint at 20:00 LT, for 11 laps.