With a temperature of 45 degrees on the asphalt, the conditions in which the MotoGP riders took to the track for the Warm-Up were very different from those they will find when the Qatar Grand Prix starts at 8pm local time (6pm in Italy) under the artificial lights of the Lusail track.
Since there is an issue linked to the durability of the tyres, which yesterday started to decline already in the second part of the Sprint, most of the drivers worked with a pair of used mediums. It should not be surprising, therefore, that those who stood out were those who instead opted to fit new covers.
The fastest was Maverick Vinales, who with a new average on the rear of his Aprilia stopped the clock at a time of 1'52″660. He even used a pair of new tires Marco Bezzecchi, who follows him by 71 thousandths with his Ducati. However, the representative of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 wanted to try some modifications made to his GP23 and seems to have found some good answers.
In third position is the other Aprilia, but with Trackhouse Racing colours, entrusted to Raul Fernandez, who like Vinales had a new average on the rear and finished 89 thousandths behind his compatriot. The first among those who lapped with a pair of used tires was therefore Alex Marquez, fourth on the Gresini Racing Ducati and also less than a tenth behind.
The only one to have used a soft tire on the rear is rookie Pedro Acosta, credited with the fifth fastest time on the GasGas Tech3 KTM, with a delay of 182 thousandths. The Moto2 world champion precedes a quartet of Ducatis, which includes Fabio Di Giannantonio, Marc Marquez and the two official riders Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, who used tires already mounted in free practice.
Different choice from that of the winner of the Sprint, Jorge Martin, who instead mounted the Sprint one on his Prima Pramac Racing GP24, therefore an average who already had 11 laps to simulate the second part of the race. And it showed, because he finished 17th in 1'53″802. Same solution also for Aleix Espargaro, who precedes him in 16th position with his Aprilia.
Going back to scroll through the rankings, Fabio Quartararo's Yamaha is in tenth position, with the Frenchman who yesterday was one of the most worried on the subject of tire management. “El Diablo” precedes Brad Binder, who after yesterday's great performance in the Sprint will be one of those to keep an eye on in the long race too. Small step forward also for Franco Morbidelli, who is starting to understand his Ducati and placed 13th, also behind Alex Rins' other M1.
The Hondas are still very late, because to find the first of the RC213Vs you have to go down to the 18th position occupied by Joan Mir. Despite still being second to last, Luca Marini managed to reduce the gap from his brand mates, because he is now about half a second behind the Majorcan, but Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami of Team LCR are also ahead of him.
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