Qatar MotoGP: Marquez tops final practice, Smith makes Q2

Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez topped the Friday evening free practice session at the Losail circuit as the top ten riders for the Q2 qualifying session were decided.

Marquez beat fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo to the top spot by just 0.001s after the reigning world champion again took the top spot from Cal Crutchlow.

Factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi set the fourth fastest time, just ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in fifth onboard the factory Ducati.

British rookie Bradley Smith, who has impressed so far this weekend, carried on his good form to post the ninth fastest time and qualify for Q2 ahead of Stefan Bradl.

The Pramac Ducati duo of Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies just missed out on the top 10, the team-mates finishing 11th and 12th respectively.

The top 10 riders will take part in Q2, while those outside the top 10 will go through to the Q1 session to decide their grid positions.

The top two finishers in Q1 will then be granted a place in Q2 to fight for higher start positions.

1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 344.2 1’56.084 
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 341.0 1’56.085 0.001 / 0.001
3 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 337.5 1’56.326 0.242 / 0.241
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 340.2 1’56.416 0.332 / 0.090
5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 343.0 1’56.417 0.333 / 0.001
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 344.4 1’56.502 0.418 / 0.085
7 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 341.0 1’56.572 0.488 / 0.070
8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 340.2 1’56.670 0.586 / 0.098
9 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 332.6 1’56.901 0.817 / 0.231
10 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 343.0 1’56.984 0.900 / 0.083
11 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 342.2 1’57.169 1.085 / 0.185
12 11 Ben SPIES USA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 341.2 1’57.308 1.224 / 0.139
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 325.2 1’57.420 1.336 / 0.112
14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 320.7 1’57.956 1.872 / 0.536
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 320.7 1’58.211 2.127 / 0.255
16 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 324.2 1’58.396 2.312 / 0.185
17 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 320.8 1’58.863 2.779 / 0.467
18 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing ART 318.2 1’59.180 3.096 / 0.317
19 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 318.3 1’59.212 3.128 / 0.032
20 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 321.2 1’59.755 3.671 / 0.543
21 67 Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda 322.8 1’59.758 3.674 / 0.003
22 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 317.8 1’59.837 3.753 / 0.079
23 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 317.1 2’00.080 3.996 / 0.243
24 71 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 317.8 2’00.439 4.355 / 0.359