Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP to Start Qatar GP from Pole

2019-03-09 19:30
The second day at the Losail International Circuit yielded mixed results for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP garage. Maverick Viñales was strong all day and showed his speed flawlessly in the Q2 session, putting his YZR-M1 on pole. Valentino Rossi gave his all but was unable to promote to Q2. During the Q1 session he fought until the very end and secured 14th place on the grid.

20:00 LOCAL TIME GMT+3 AIR 17°C / TRACK 16°C HUMIDITY 62% NIGHT CLEAR
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1st
MAVERICK VIÑALES
1'53.546 / 7 LAPS

14th
VALENTINO ROSSI
1'54.537 / 7 LAPS
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales will start the first race of the season in the best way possible: from pole position. Despite the windy and relatively cold conditions at the Losail International Circuit, Valentino Rossi put in a solid performance, but he wasn‘t able to secure a place in Q2. He will start the VisitQatar Grand Prix from P14.

Viñales waited at the start of the Q2 session, to be ensured of some clear space on track for his hot laps. The strategy worked out perfectly for him. He positioned his YZR-M1 firmly in the lead after his first try, with a 0.741s advantage over his closest rival. He showed it wasn‘t a lucky shot when he posted another, slightly higher, 1‘53s, though his benchmark time remained unthreatened in the first half of the session.

He timed his ultra-quick pit stop to perfection to re-enter the track on his own again with five-and-a-half minutes left on the clock. The pace was heating up, with multiple rivals flashing red sectors, but the Spaniard responded. He found another 0.298s, posting a 1‘53.546s. This stunning lap earned him the first pole position of 2019, with a 0.198s gap to the rider in second place.

Rossi wasn‘t able to improve on his FP1 time during the FP3 session, due to the windy and relatively colder conditions at the Losail International Circuit, which meant he had to take part in Q1. The veteran was quick to head out for the 15-minute shoot-out but had to sit up on his first hot lap due to traffic on track. Once he found a clear space, he resumed his mission and moved up from 11th to 7th place.

With more than six minutes to go, the Italian headed into pit lane to get a fresh set of tyres for his second run. He briefly secured fifth place before being pushed back to sixth. He had one more try, and he made it count. He improved his time by 0.290s to a 1'54.537s, to take fourth place, 0.267s from the fastest time of the Q1 session. He will start tomorrow‘s race from 14th position on the grid.

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MASSIMO MEREGALLI
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
"First of all, I want to congratulate Maverick. Taking pole in today's qualifying, which was quite tricky due to the track conditions, is a great result. He fully deserves this pole after the hard work he has done all weekend. It's not only his P1 start that gives us confidence - his pace is very strong, so we look forward to him being a front-runner tomorrow. We have to understand what isn‘t working perfectly for Valentino and isn‘t giving him the opportunity and the right feeling for him to go faster. We will have to use the time of the warm-up to the fullest, even if the conditions will be quite different than they'll be during the race. We are still confident that we'll sort it out before the lights turn off."


MAVERICK VIÑALES
MAVERICK VIÑALES
"I was surprised. I didn't expect that everyone was going to be so fast. We've made good steps forward with the bike, but we need to keep working, because we still need to improve the exit of the last corner. If we can do that, we are going to be ready to fight for this race. I will push my hardest tomorrow, no fear, I will go for it. I'm able to hit good lap times and I'm fast straight away. I will give my all. The team prepared a really good bike for me, so now it's in my hands to push and be at the front. I think it will be a group of five to six riders that will battle at the front in the first laps. Let's see at the end of the race. I will plan tonight what I can do, but my first plan is just to do my best."



VALENTINO ROSSI
VALENTINO ROSSI
"It's difficult, because we are in trouble. I'm not fast because I don't have a good feeling with the front, and also we have a lot of tyre degradation. For the race this will be hard, so we need to find a way to be stronger."




LINKS & DOWNLOAD
Qatar GP - Qualifying Results
Qatar GP - FP4 Results
Qatar GP - Combined FP1 + FP2 + FP3 Results
Qatar GP - FP3 Results
QUALIFYING RESULTS
09/03/2019
FRONT ROW
1. M. VIÑALES MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP 1'53.546
2. A. DOVIZIOSO MISSION WINNOW DUCATI 1'53.744
3. M. MARQUEZ REPSOL HONDA TEAM 1'53.745
SECOND ROW
4. J. MILLER ALMA PRAMAC RACING 1'53.809
5. F. QUARTARARO PETRONAS YAMAHA SRT 1'53.946
6. C. CRUTCHLOW LCR HONDA CASTROL 1'54.095
THIRD ROW
7. D. PETRUCCI MISSION WINNOW DUCATI 1'54.200
8. F. MORBIDELLI PETRONAS YAMAHA SRT 1'54.236
9. T. NAKAGAMI LCR HONDA IDEMITSU 1'54.239
FOURTH ROW
10. A. RINS TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'54.257
11. J. MIR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 1'54.390
12. A. ESPARGARÒ APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 1'54.917
FIFTH ROW
13. F. BAGNAIA ALMA PRAMAC RACING 1'54.472
14. V. ROSSI MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP 1'54.537
15. J. LORENZO REPSOL HONDA TEAM 1'54.563
SIXTH ROW
16. P. ESPARGARÒ RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 1'54.740
17. M. OLIVEIRA RED BULL KTM TECH3 1'55.122
18. T. RABAT REALE AVINTIA RACING 1'55.428
SEVENTH ROW
19. A. IANNONE APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 1'55.464
20. K. ABRAHAM REALE AVINTIA RACING 1'55.642
21. J. ZARCO RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 1'55.797
EIGHTH ROW
22. H. SYAHRIN RED BULL KTM TECH3 1'55.937
23. B. SMITH APRILIA FACTORY RACING 1'56.036

Source: Yamaha Motor Racing

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