Jorge Martin smashed the Moto3 lap record to go almost seven-tenths clear of the field on the opening day of running of the 2018 season.
The opening session of the 2018 Moto3 season got underway during the day for the first time at Qatar, with last year's qualifying master Martin setting the early pace on his Gresini Honda with a 2:08.266s.
Enea Bastianini, who switches to the Leopard team for this season, edged ahead of Martin with 25 minutes remaining, before securing top spot on his final run with a 2:07.741s.
Estrella Galicia rider Aron Canet's 2:07.750s set towards the end of FP1 did put him top briefly, but was shuffled back to second at the chequered flag ahead of Martin and late chargers John McPhee and Marco Bezzecchi – both of whom in new surroundings this year at CIP and Prustel GP respectively.
The second session was run under floodlights as the sun began to set, and once again Martin set the benchmark with a 2:06.929s – the best time of the day at that point.
Martin improved to a 2:06.087s to go over a second clear of the field with 20 minutes remaining, though his advantage was cut to just under two tenths by Bastianini in the closing stages.
However, Martin twisted the screw on his final attempt to obliterate the current lap record for the class in Qatar with a 2:05.590s.
Niccolo Antonelli brushed off a crash in the first session to end the day second overall as he begins life at the SIC58 team, while Bastianini completed the top three ahead of RBA Racing's Gabriel Rodrigo.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, on the sister Gresini Honda, was fifth, pipping Nieto's new signing Andrea Migno and the sole Marinelli Snipers representative Tony Arbolino.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta was eighth on the second Leopard machine, while Canet and Schedl GP's Philipp Oettl rounded out the top 10, with Bezzecchi just 0.046 seconds adrift in 11th.
Marcos Ramirez leaped up the order in the second session to finish Friday 12th overall, with Livio Loi, Jakub Kornfeil and McPhee close behind to complete the top 15.
SIC58's Tatsuki Suzuki suffered a fracture to his right wrist in a crash in FP1 at Turn 10, and he been ruled out of completing the Qatar weekend.
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