MotoGP | Qatar GP, FP1: Ducati at the top with Dovizioso, Rossi is second

MotoGP GP Qatar Free Practice 1 – The 2018 MotoGP class World Championship officially began today with the first free practice session of the Qatar GP, which will take place on Sunday on the Losail track.

The fastest of these Free Practice 1 was our Andrea Dovizioso, who brought the Ducati to the top of the time charts with a time of 1.55'366.

“DesmoDovi” preceded Valentino Rossi (by only 61 thousandths), fresh from a two-year renewal with Yamaha, and the reigning champion Marc Marquez, 0.377s behind the top.

Excellent fourth time for Andrea Iannone, who puts the Suzuki ahead of Jorge Lorenzo's Ducati, with the latter making a great recovery.

Johann Zarco is sixth on the Yamaha SAT of Team Tech 3, ahead of Cal Crutchlow's Honda and Alex Rins' Suzuki. Closing out the Top Ten are Danilo Petrucci and Tito Rabat.

The rider from Terni had a problem with his bike at the start of the session, which slowed down his work. Followed by Maverick Vinales and Dani Pedrosa, with the #25 who, unlike his tea-mate Rossi, did not use the best performing tyre.

Aprilia places Aleix Espargarò in thirteenth position, while the fifteenth time of rookie Hafizh Syahrin (Yamaha Tech 3) is excellent.

Twenty-first time for Franco Morbidelli, with the 2017 world champion of the Moto2 class preceded by his team-mate Tom Luthi and the Japanese (another rookie) Takaaki Nakagami.

Photos: Alex Farinelli