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MotoGP, Hat-trick for Yamaha in Qatar: Vinales 1st, Rossi 2nd, Folger 3rd

TIMES. Behind them, Crutchow and the Aprilia of Espargarò. Lorenzo is 8th , Dovizioso tests the new Ducati fairing but does not improve

MotoGP: Hat-trick for Yamaha in Qatar: Vinales 1st, Rossi 2nd, Folger 3rd

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Yesterday the Ducati seemed unbeatable in Dovizioso's hands but today, in Qatar, Yamaha was quick to respond. The Japanese manufacturer put three of its bikes at the front of the pack, rounding out the top three thanks to rookie Folger.

Once again it was Maverick Vinales who made the difference, able to set a time of 1’54”455, that is 4 tenths better than Dovi yesterday and even one tenth quicker than Lorenzo's 2016 pole time. Rossi, in turn, also took a step forward, improving on his best of yesterday. Valentino appeared to be struggling but roughly an hour and a half before the end of the session, he pulled out the big guns, closing 0”277 behind his team-mate. The Doctor also suffered a harmless crash early in the day.

The M1 is also strong in Folger's hands: the Tech3 rookie continues to surprise and closed third, less than half a second from Vinales. It wasn't just a one-off lap either, as Jonas showed interesting pace. Zarco didn't do badly either, 10th.

The first Honda is that of Cal Crutchlow, 4th at +0”577. The Japanese bike didn't particularly stand out, aside from the Brit and Marquez (6th), the other RC213V bikes were far back: Pedrosa is 16th, Rabat and Miller 18th and 19th.

The Aprilia did well today, moving up to 5th place in the hands of Aleix Espargarò, between the two Hondas. The RS-GP seems to have taken a big step forward, but Lowes is still paying for his inexperience, in 20th place.

Over to Ducati, a little in the shadows today. The best of the Bolognese bikes was the GP16 of Alvaro Bautista, who refinds his Sepang form. The Aspar rider is 7th ahead of Lorenzo. Jorge, who crashed early on, started out well but was then unable to improve on his time. He did better than Redding anyway, who follows him, and Abraham, 11th.

Dovizioso too, who lapped slower today than yesterday (Andrea, Pedrosa and Miller were the only riders not to improve today). It's easy to imagine that the Italian, having already had confirmation of the GP17's competitiveness at Losail, preferred to focus on other work today. Including tests with the new fairing, definitely more innovative than that of its rivals. Petrucci was also further back, 14th, ahead of Baz.

Suzuki is struggling at Losail, with Iannone 12th, more than one second from the front, and Rins 17th. Rounding out the standings are the KTMs: Pol Espargarò closes at +2”193, Smith at +2”812.

THE TIMES

Translated by Heather Watson
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