Maverick Vinales topped the timesheets on the opening day of the final MotoGP pre-season test of 2018 in Qatar by 0.051s from Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.
The 3.34-mile Losail International Circuit remained fairly quiet for the first two hours while most waited for the temperature to come down to something more representative of the actual race weekend.
Dovizioso was the early pacesetter on his GP18 with a 1:57.076s, with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, KTM's Bradley Smith, Pramac's Jack Miller, Avintia's Tito Rabat and the Marc VDS Honda of Franco Morbidelli the only ones with five hours remaining with times on the board.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa set a run of fast laps over the next half an hour, culminating in a 1:56.230s; though the Spaniard was soon deposed by Dovizioso with a 1:56.075s.
The Italian continued to lead the way for the next hour, dropping down to a 1:56.049s, before Valentino Rossi shot to the top of the standings with a 1:55.827s as he seeks to find a solution to his electronics woes from Thailand.
With around three and a half hours remaining, Vinales and Suzuki's Andrea Iannone posted identical session-best times of 1:55.483s, with Lorenzo shuffling the pair back with just over three hours to go.
Vinales returned to the top of the timesheets with just under two hours left with a 1:55.053s, and remained unchallenged at the chequered flag; though Dovizioso came close with a 1:55.104s.
Iannone slotted into third with a slightly improved gambit of 1:55.107s ahead of Tech3's Johann Zarco, who ended his day early after a positive opening session for the French rider in Qatar.
Lorenzo slid to fifth by the end, but looked in a far more competitive state than he did at the end of the Thailand test last month. Alex Rins made a late charge for sixth on his GSX-RR, edging ahead of Rossi and Pramac's Danilo Petrucci.
LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow was one of the last riders to take the track on Thursday, and ended the day in ninth ahead of factory stablemate Marc Marquez – who penned a new two-year deal to remain with Honda.
Team-mate Dani Pedrosa's day was hampered by two crashes, the Spaniard tipping off at Turns 2 and 16 respectively. Pedrosa was 11th and half a second off the pace at the end of the day ahead of Miller, Nieto's Alvaro Bautista and top rookie Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR RC213V.
Scott Redding completed the top 15 on the first of the Aprilia's, who are expected to debut an updated aerodynamic fairing this week.
KTM's Pol Espargaro made his return from injury to end Thursday 19th, while recently-confirmed Tech3 rider Hafizh Syahrin was 22nd.
Discussion about this post