It rained in Qatar ahead of the third day of proceedings where the final Free Practice Session (4) and Qualifying 1 and 2 was planned for the MotoGP class. Following a Safety Commission meeting on Friday after Free Practice, it was decided that it was too dangerous to venture out in conditions, and so fastest man during FP3 and on combined times, Maverick Vinales has secured his first pole position ahead of his race debut with his new team Movistar Yamaha.
Vinales has first MotoGP pole of the season on his debut with new team Movistar Yamaha
The young Spanish rider, who has thrived since his move to the championship winning team, finished each of the winter IRTA tests on top. On to Qatar, he soon returned to his test pace, and then went on to supersede it setting a fastest time so far of 1:54.316 during Free Practice 1. No one was since able to come near during the following sessions and so when combining times it is Vinales who has gained pole position.
Discussing his first pole position with his new team for the season opener, Vinales declared the “conditions were tricky” and shared his thoughts that race control “made the right decision because it was totally impossible to ride”. He explained how the “conditions were mixed” and that there was “a lot of water on the track” and so he was left thinking in the end that they “made the correct call”.
Describing how the events unravelled on Qualifying day, Vinales said, “We didn’t ride for the show, but rider safety comes first.” He felt that it “wasn’t hard to stay focused” as he was in the pit garage the whole time, and described how “seeing the images, it would be difficult to go out on track with that much standing water”.
Instead, whilst in the pits, he tried to “stay focused in case” they were to go out and try, however he felt it was “better” that they didn’t as it was “quite tricky”. Now ahead of race day he plans to “try to check [their] race pace and the bike in the warm-up” as well trying to “get a good feeling and the best confidence with the bike going into the race.”
Iannone to start the season opener in second on the grid
Next to Vinales on the front row will be Andrea Iannone, funnily the rider who replaced Vinales at Team Suzuki Ecstar when he announced he was moving to Yamaha to replace Jorge Lorenzo who was moving to the factory Ducati team. A late flying lap during the third Free Practice session was enough to leave him second in the standings during FP3 and on combined times second overall with a time of 1:54.858.
It signals another great start/change/move for another rider in the elite class, as on several occasions Iannone has also looked strong as he comes to grips with his new machinery. His penultimate lap means he has a perfect start to a new season.
At the end of day two, Iannone had confirmed that during FP2 they were “able to improve a little, the feel of the bike”, he then felt that from there “things went better and better, little by little”. Towards the end of the session he confirmed that they “tried a new setting” which came “as a result of the information [they] had gained” and that it “proved to be effective”. They were left feeling “very satisfied with the result” however nothing more as he said, “The most important thing is the race.”
He was left feeling like they had to “work on finding a confident pace”. He confirmed that “with the soft tyre the machine is behaving well” and he was left with a “good feeling that it will pay off”. Also he spoke of how they “have some little issues” that they could improve on, however now it will be down to the warm-up prior to the race to “work on these areas to prepare the race distance”.
Marquez completes the front row
Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez’s time from Free Practice 1 on day one was also enough to secure the five times world champion a front row start. His time of 1:54.912 means he will start the race from third on the grid. It must be a relief for the rider who otherwise was ninth during FP2 and seventh during FP3.
Marquez described how “starting on the front row is good” for the team even though he knew it “wasn't the best way to achieve that result”. He spoke of how he “would have liked to have time today to work more for the race” however he knew that you “can’t control the weather” and that they “must think about safety first”.
He confirmed that it was “too dangerous to ride” as he explained that it “rained quite heavily both overnight and this morning”. Still he went on to explain how they have “done more than 300 laps on this track” when he said you consider the recent test and the work so far in the build up to Qualifying. He felt that this means “everybody has the setup and his own pace, and everybody already knows where he is for the race”.
Speaking about the race he confirmed that a “podium would be a great result” and that they will “try to go for it”. He said, “We’ll have a longer warm-up and we’ll see how the grip and everything is.” Knowing that the Moto3 and Moto2 races will be run prior to the MotoGP race, he hoped that “the track will be dry enough and that the weather is stable.”