The one night time observe of the Qatar weekend proved to be a good affair, as Fernandez on his year-old Aprilia edged forward of Gresini Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio by 0.049 seconds after an hour of working.
Maverick Vinales had been set to finish second observe quickest of all with a brand new lap document, however the Aprilia rider had his 1m52.652s deleted attributable to setting it beneath yellow flags after a number of late crashes.
Quite a few riders received caught out by the late yellow flags, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo slumping from eighth to twenty first in consequence.
Each title challengers Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin made it via to Q2 for Saturday’s qualifying, with the latter edging forward in seventh regardless of a scrappy session as he battled an absence of grip.
Di Giannantonio set the early tempo in second observe on Friday night with a 1m55.338s, earlier than Raul Fernandez moved clear with a 1m55.093s inside the primary 5 minutes of working.
Pol Espargaro dipped into the 1m54s with a 1m54.567s just a few moments later, earlier than Fernandez discovered a 1m54.309s.
A 1m54.148s from Vinales on his manufacturing facility Aprilia ended the preliminary salvo of session-topping laps simply over 13 minutes in.
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Fabio Di Giannantonio, Gresini Racing
Miguel Oliveira on the sister RNF Aprilia would lastly depose Vinales with a 1m54.005s with simply over half an hour to go, earlier than the latter popped in a 1m53.340s on a brand new gentle rear tyre.
Vinales’ first gentle tyre run didn’t fairly carry a couple of sudden flurry of time assaults, however 10 minutes later the remainder of the sphere would comply with swimsuit.
Di Giannantonio received the ball rolling with a 1m52.892s to get near Bagnaia’s 2021 lap document of 1m52.772s, with Fernandez discovering 0.049s with 12 minutes to go to take over prime spot.
Vinales would fireplace in a 1m52.652s to interrupt the lap document with slightly below two minutes till the chequered flag, however can be demoted to 3rd as he set this beneath yellow flag situations.
This was for a crash for Pol Espargaro on the last nook whereas the Tech3 rider was on lap, and it will trigger issues for a lot of riders – particularly Bagnaia.
Bagnaia on the similar time had posted a lap adequate for fourth, with Honda’s Marc Marquez in tow to leap up the order with the Ducati rider.
They might be shoved again to the outer reaches of the highest 10 for his or her last laps.
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Crew
Each have been fortunate to keep away from a yellow flag zone for Jack Miller’s second crash of the night time, with Bagnaia going eighth quickest forward of Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez and Marquez on the Honda.
Brad Binder would finish the session fourth on the main KTM from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, whereas Luca Marini leapt as much as sixth on his VR46 Ducati.
Martin was seventh having been final on the midway level of the session, as grip points compelled him to desert his primary Pramac Ducati for his second bike.
Miller’s crash left the KTM rider out of the Q2 locations in eleventh, with the KTM rider heading Gresini’s Alex Marquez and Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli behind.
Pol Espargaro was 14th after his crash, with Marco Bezzecchi dropping a lap time to yellow flags in fifteenth on his VR46 Ducati.
Malaysian GP winner Enea Bastianini may solely handle 18th on his manufacturing facility Ducati behind Honda’s Joan Mir, with Oliveira slipping right down to nineteenth attributable to yellow flags.
LCR Honda’s Iker Lecuona headed Quartararo after his yellow flag-caused lap deletion, with the sister LCR Honda of Takaaki Nakagami finishing the sphere.