Thanks to his quickest FP2 time, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) heads into the first Moto2™ qualifying session of the year as the fastest rider, sitting ahead of Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team).
???? @88jorgemartin tops FP3 but it's @7balda remains on top of the overall times heading in #Moto2 qualifying! ????#QatarGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/uc7kkDHfOe
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) March 9, 2019
With conditions far less favourable in FP3, none of the intermediate class riders was able to improve on their Friday evening times, so the standings remain the same from FP2. Baldassarri’s 1:58.635 is two tenths clear of second and third, with Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) 0.319 off in P4.
P5 goes the way of Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), the Spaniard 0.329 back from Baldassarri, with Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up), Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – who crashed at Turn 16 in FP3 – complete the top eight.
Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) sits P9 on his first weekend with his new team, with rookie Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) less than half a second off his leading compatriot in P10. Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40), Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and FP3 timesheet topper Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) take up the remaining automatic Q2 places.
Q1 for the intermediate class gets underway at 18:25 local time (GMT+3), with Q2 getting underway at 18:50 – tune in to see who grabs intermediate class pole in Qatar.