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MotoGP, Qatar GP: qualifiers cancelled, starting order to follow the FP times

The conditions do not allow the riders to lap. Viñales on pole position in MotoGP, Morbidelli in Moto2 and Martin in Moto3.

MotoGP: Qatar GP: qualifiers cancelled, starting order to follow the FP times

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At 8:10 PM the news arrived: no bikes will go out on the track at Losail; the qualifiers will not be held. The circuit is in poor conditions, with parts completely dry and others flooded. For more than an hour the screens showed images of the tragicomical efforts of the stewards intent on trying to dry off the asphalt armed with large brooms. The problem is that the track has no drains for the water, so all the efforts were futile.

In the end, Race Direction made the decision that had seemed for some time to be the only reasonable one: all stopped and no qualifiers. To decide the starting grid order, the Free Practice combined times will be used for all three categories.

This means that in MotoGP it will be Maverick Viñales starting from pole position, with Iannone and Marquez on the front row. On the second row it will be Zarco, Dovizioso and Redding, ahead of Pedrosa, Folger and Crutchlow on the third and Rossi, Petrucci and Lorenzo on the fourth.

In Moto2, when the lights go out it will be Morbidelli at the front with Marquez and Luthi alongside him. Pole position in Moto3 goes to Martin ahead of Oettl and Fenati, with Antonelli on the second row with his 5th place time and Migno 7th.

For tomorrow there shouldn’t be any programme changes with the races at 5 PM for Moto3, at 6:20 PM for Moto2 and at 8 PM for MotoGP.

The weather forecast is good for race day and everyone hopes it is accurate, given how Race Direction managed the situation today.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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