PULL&BEAR ASPAR Team MotoGP - 01 Qatar GP - FP3

2017-03-24 20:27
After a 45-minute aperitif to the Grand Prix of Qatar with yesterday's opening practice, the MotoGP riders were back on track for two further sessions tonight as the first ten positions were decided for tomorrow's Q2. Maverick Viñales heads the combined standings thanks to his 1'54.316 from yesterday, a time he was only able to get within four tenths of today. Andrea Iannone and Marc Márquez complete the top three, followed by rookie Moto2 World Champion Johann Zarco. Andrea Dovizioso finished as the top Ducati in fifth place ahead of Scott Redding and Dani Pedrosa. Jonas Folger, Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi make up the ten direct qualifiers to Q2, which will be preceded as usual by FP4 and Q1 tomorrow night.

Álvaro Bautista finished just 0.167 seconds shy of a place in Q1, the Spaniard blaming the lower grip levels tonight as he struggled to make improvements from yesterday. Bautista racked up thirty laps tonight, the best of which being a 1'55.581, and will continue to work hard tomorrow night with the aim of a top two position in Q1 that would take him into Q2. Karel Abraham lies in seventeenth position overall, even though he has been in the top fifteen in each session. The Czech is looking for more feeling from both the front and rear ends of his bike in order to bring him closer to the lap times he set here in the test at the start of this month.



13th Álvaro Bautista 1:55.581 (31 laps):“The track was a little different to last night, it was more difficult because there was less grip. We suffered a little with the bike and I didn't manage to establish a good feeling in corner entry, in the middle or in exit. I feel like I am lacking grip compared to the tests. We tried to gain some grip by making some modifications but didn't find anything that helped. After the second session I was in a position that would have sent me through to Q2 but FP3 didn't go so well, the bike wasn't working how I wanted and with the feeling I had it was difficult to go any faster. We will try to improve the feeling tomorrow and progress from Q1 to Q2 to secure a good position for the race.”

17th Karel Abraham 1:56.003 (31 laps):“I don't think it's been a bad day, but it wasn't 100% positive. We had a few problems with the front end and the rear has been sliding in some corners since yesterday. I am lacking feeling from the front, I can't tell if I am close to the limit or not. We have been in the top fifteen in every session, setting good laps. Tomorrow if it doesn't rain we will try some modifications in FP4. I can see that there are a few guys who were in the same boat as me but suddenly pulled a really good lap time out. Hopefully tomorrow with a bit more work we can improve the response from the front and rear end and get back to the lap times we set in the test. I think Viñales has set a similar lap time to the test but the rest of us have gone slower. We'll see what happens tomorrow.”

Source: AsparTeam

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