Maverick Vinales - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Maverick Vinales closed the opening day of practice in Qatar as the fastest man after another accomplished performance in Moto3. The Spanish teenager was even more impressive than he had been earlier in the evening and had a full half second in hand over Zulfahmi Khairuddin on the AirAsia KTM.
Vinales was on the pace immediately when FP2 got underway and wasted no time beating his own time from the earlier session. His only threat came from the Estrella Galicia 0'0 riders who worked together to tow each other down the main straight. Alex Rins punched a hole in the air which Miguel Oliveira rode straight through and the Portuguese youngster took over at the top 12 minutes from time. Oliveira returned the favour moments later to drag Rins up to third as the Monlau squad sandwiched Vinales in the running order.
Maverick responded with four minutes to go and regained the lead with a 2:08.434, half a second quicker than his former rival in Spanish 125s, but he wasn't done there and found another three tenths on his final lap. Khairuddin emerged from nowhere to grab second while Danny Kent recovered from his troublesome first session to take third.
Oliveira and Rins were demoted to fourth and fifth with Sandro Cortese sixth on the second Red Bull KTM. Alberto Moncayo finished seventh at the end of his first day with Aspar with Louis Rossi, Hector Faubel and Niccolo Antonelli completing the top ten.
Danny Webb was 20th on the Oral-powered Mahindra while the Ioda Racing team had a miserable evening. Jonas Folger and Luigi Morciano completed just a single flying lap between them and brought up the rear for the Italian team.
Moto3 Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar: Combined Free Practice Times
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Motorcycle | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | FTR Honda | Blusens Avintia | 2:08.160 |
| 2 | Zulfahmi Khairuddin | MAL | KTM | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +0.498 |
| 3 | Danny Kent | GBR | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +0.807 |
| 4 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0'0 | +0.819 |
| 5 | Alex Rins | SPA | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0'0 | +0.947 |
| 6 | Sandro Cortese | GER | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.078 |
| 7 | Alberto Moncayo | SPA | Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +1.152 |
| 8 | Louis Rossi | FRA | FTR Honda | Racing Team Germany | +1.194 |
| 9 | Hector Faubel | SPA | Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +1.341 |
| 10 | Niccolo Antonelli | ITA | Honda | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | +1.342 |
| 11 | Luis Salom | SPA | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +1.391 |
| 12 | Romano Fenati | ITA | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +1.492 |
| 13 | Alexis Masbou | FRA | Honda | Caretta Technology | +1.699 |
| 14 | Niklas Ajo | FIN | KTM | TT Motion Events Racing | +1.757 |
| 15 | Efren Vazquez | SPA | Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +1.911 |
| 16 | Jakub Kornfeil | CZE | FTR Honda | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | +1.994 |
| 17 | Alessandro Tonucci | ITA | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +2.373 |
| 18 | Brad Binder | RSA | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +2.623 |
| 19 | Alan Techer | FRA | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +2.689 |
| 20 | Danny Webb | GBR | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +2.699 |
| 21 | Isaac Viñales | SPA | FTR Honda | Ongetta-Centro Seta | +2.875 |
| 22 | Marcel Schrotter | GER | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +2.902 |
| 23 | Arthur Sissis | AUS | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +3.243 |
| 24 | Jasper Iwema | NED | FGR Honda | Moto FGR | +3.325 |
| 25 | Ivan Moreno | SPA | FTR Honda | AndalucÃa JHK Laglisse | +3.444 |
| 26 | Adrian Martin | SPA | Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +3.697 |
| 27 | Jack Miller | AUS | Honda | Caretta Technology | +3.965 |
| 28 | Toni Finsterbusch | GER | MZ-RE Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +4.233 |
| 29 | Simone Grotzkyj | ITA | Oral | Ambrogio Next Racing | +5.868 |
| 30 | Kenta Fujii | JAP | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +5.946 |
| 31 | Jonas Folger | GER | Ioda | Ioda Racing Project | +9.856 |
| 32 | Luigi Morciano | ITA | Ioda | Ioda Team Italia | No Time |
