Jorge Martin fired to a shock debut MotoGP pole position in only his second qualifying session in the class, the Spaniard leading a Pramac Ducati 1-2 ahead of Johann Zarco.
Martin looked to build on the impressive top seven speed he had shown across Friday and Saturday afternoon as he led the way in the early goings of Q2, though by a slender 0.017 margin over the factory Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo.
Maverick Vinales looked to wreck Ducati’s party as he headed to the top of the times as the 12 riders started their final runs, the Qatar GP victor first posting a 1:53.383s effort before shaving a further 0.116s from his benchmark on his final gambit.
Zarco came from nowhere though to bump the M1 from the head of the pack by a meagre 0.004, though Martin was not keen to allow his team-mate the spotlight.
A blistering final sector saw the 2018 Moto3 world champion snatch pole by nearly two-tenths of a second over Zarco to secure himself his first ever premier class pole.
Vinales held on to complete the first row of the grid, giving him a golden opportunity to go back to back under the lights of Losail.
Jack Miller managed fourth on the first of the factory Ducati machines ahead of Quartararo who found him shuffled to fifth by the end, while Qatar GP pole-man Francesco Bagnaia could only manage sixth on this occasion.
Aleix Espargaro planted his Aprilia at the head of the third row ahead of Alex Rins, with the second Suzuki of reigning MotoGP world champion Joan Mir ninth after escaping Q1.
Mir controlled proceedings in the opening segment of qualifying, leading the way from start to finish by a relatively comfortable gap over the scrap for the second and final berth to the pole shootout.
Brad Binder looked to be winning the fight early on as he lapped a few tenths from Mir’s pace, though it would ultimately be KTM team-mate Miguel Oliveira that would grab the initiative to join Mir in Q2 with a late flyer.
Luca Marini narrowly missed out on a pole shootout bow but will start 13th for the Doha GP ahead of LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez, with the factory Honda of Pol Espargaro only 15th well down on team-mate Stefan Bradl.
Binder ended being dropped to 17th by the time everyone had completed their final efforts, while Valentino Rossi struggled significantly to a lowly 21st.
Petronas SRT team-mate Franco Morbidelli meanwhile completed the top ten for the race, the Italian followed by Bradl and Oliveira to complete the 12 strong group that competed in the Q2 session.
| # | Rider | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap / Prev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge MARTIN | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 349.5 | 1’53.106 | |
| 2 | Johann ZARCO | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 346.1 | 1’53.263 | 0.157 / 0.157 |
| 3 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 336.4 | 1’53.267 | 0.161 / 0.004 |
| 4 | Jack MILLER | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 341.7 | 1’53.303 | 0.197 / 0.036 |
| 5 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 336.4 | 1’53.469 | 0.363 / 0.166 |
| 6 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 339.6 | 1’53.654 | 0.548 / 0.185 |
| 7 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 337.5 | 1’53.705 | 0.599 / 0.051 |
| 8 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 336.4 | 1’53.745 | 0.639 / 0.040 |
| 9 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 332.3 | 1’53.785 | 0.679 / 0.040 |
| 10 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 329.2 | 1’53.794 | 0.688 / 0.009 |
| 11 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 342.8 | 1’54.224 | 1.118 / 0.430 |
| 12 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 337.5 | 1’55.096 | 1.990 / 0.872 |
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