Canet 0.595 clear of Fenati in FP2

Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) has blitzed the Moto3™ field on Day 1 at the VisitQatar Grand Prix after becoming the only rider to go below the 2:05 barrier in FP2 – a 2:04.561 putting him 0.595 clear of FP1’s fastest man Romano Fenati (Snipers Team).

It was a record-breaking FP2 session as Canet’s time was well under the old lap record, with the Spaniard displaying some serious pace to put him nearly six tenths clear of the rest. Fenati was his closest challenger as the Italian continues his great comeback, with Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) recovering from an FP1 crash to end the day third fastest – 0.679 the gap to Canet.

Less than four-tenths separate fourth place Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) to 16th place John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), with the pack looking tight if you discount Canet’s pace. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3), less than a week after fracturing his collarbone in testing, finished Day 1 in Qatar in an incredible fifth place. He leads Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) by 0.090, the Czech rider sixth on the timesheets, with Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) a further 0.005 behind in seventh.

Tony Arbolino (Snipers Team) cements a top ten place on his final run to finish eighth on Day 1 with a 2:05.480, the Italian leading Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) in ninth and tenth respectively.

Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) crashed late on at Turn 16 – rider ok.

The top 14 from FP2 are currently provisionally heading into an automatic Q2 place, with FP3 still to come tomorrow. Tune in at 13:25 local time (GMT+3) to find out if anyone can top Canet ahead of qualifying, with Moto3™ and Moto2™ adopting the Q1, Q2 format for the first time in 2019.

Click here for the full results!