Viñales pips Dovizioso on Day 1 of Qatar test

Maverick Viñales has finished narrowly fastest on the opening day of the final pre-season MotoGP test in Qatar.

Movistar Yamaha’s Viñales finished 0.051s faster than Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, with Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone a further 0.003s further back.

Viñales jumped into top spot inside the final two hours of the session and remained there, having largely been outdone by team-mate Alex Rins in pre-season so far.

Dovizioso and then Iannone improved on their personal bests but fell just short of knocking off the 2017 Qatar MotoGP winner.

A similarly late effort from Johann Zarco saw the Tech3 Yamaha rider slot into fourth position ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), who was fastest prior to Viñales’ ascension.

Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) were sixth- seventh-fastest in a dead heat, while Danilo Petrucci was best Pramac Ducati rider in eighth.

After Honda dominated the Buriram test, LCR’s Cal Crutchlow and the Repsol-backed factory riders of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa filled ninth to 11th, the latter crashing twice during the day.

Jack Miller was 0.635s off the pace in 12th position on his Pramac Ducati, and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami the fastest rookie in 14th.

Red Bell KTM’s Pol Espargaro, who ended the day in 19th, will be replaced by Mika Kallio on Day 2 as he continues to struggle with an injury incurred in a high-speed crash in Sepang.

The three-day test continues late tonight (AEDT).

Pre-season testing: Losail: Day 1

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/prev
1	25	Maverick VIÑALES	ESP	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:55.053
2	04	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:55.104	0.051/0.051
3	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:55.107	0.054/0.003
4	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1:55.186	0.133/0.079
5	99	Jorge LORENZO	ESP	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:55.423	0.370/0.237
6	42	Alex RINS	ESP	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:55.432	0.379/0.009
7	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:55.432	0.379/0.000
8	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:55.528	0.475/0.096
9	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	1:55.536	0.483/0.008
10	93	Marc MARQUEZ	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:55.545	0.492/0.009
11	26	Dani PEDROSA	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:55.555	0.502/0.010
12	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:55.688	0.635/0.133
13	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	ESP	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	1:55.848	0.795/0.160
14	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	1:55.853	0.800/0.005
15	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1:55.931	0.878/0.078
16	53	Tito RABAT	ESP	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1:56.029	0.976/0.098
17	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	ESP	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1:56.062	1.009/0.033
18	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	1:56.268	1.215/0.206
19	44	Pol ESPARGARO	ESP	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:56.275	1.222/0.007
20	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:56.421	1.368/0.146
21	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	1:56.608	1.555/0.187
22	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	1:56.731	1.678/0.123
23	12	Tom LUTHI	SWI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	1:57.292	2.239/0.561
24	10	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1:57.713	2.660/0.421