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Rain washes out MotoGP qualifying in Qatar Saturday (Update)

Rain could affect qualifying
Rain washes out qualifying

UPDATE After overnight rain, a storm and too much standing water on track at Losail International Circuit, the original timetable for Saturday at the #QatarGP saw some adjustments before the decision was taken by Race Direction to cancel track action for the day.

Track conditions were deemed too dangerous to enable riders to get out on track – and with little chance of improvement as rain and lightning began again.

So it’s combined times after the end of FP3 that will decide the grid ahead of Sunday.

Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start from his first pole for Yamaha. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone and reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) join him on the front row.

The second row is: Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), and Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) in sixth.

The third row – so from P7 to P9 – is Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

Nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) heads up Row 4 in tenth, ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). Jorge Lorenzo is in 12th on his debut with the Ducati Team.

For full combined timings after FP3 follow.

Pos No./Rider Bike FP1 FP2 FP3 Behind Gap
1 25 M.VINALES YAMAHA 1'54.316 1'55.378 1'54.834 0.000 0.000
2 29 A.IANNONE SUZUKI 1'56.027 1'56.069 1'54.848 0.532 0.532
3 93 M.MARQUEZ HONDA 1'54.912 1'55.698 1'55.296 0.596 0.064
4 5 J.ZARCO YAMAHA 1'55.792 1'55.316 1'55.008 0.692 0.096
5 4 A.DOVIZIOSO DUCATI 1'55.873 1'55.185 1'55.042 0.726 0.034
6 45 S.REDDING DUCATI 1'56.000 1'55.085 1'56.662 0.769 0.043
7 26 D.PEDROSA HONDA 1'55.210 1'56.530 1'55.113 0.797 0.028
8 94 J.FOLGER YAMAHA 1'55.587 1'55.208 1'55.713 0.892 0.095
9 35 C.CRUTCHLOW HONDA 1'55.639 1'55.828 1'55.211 0.895 0.003
10 46 V.ROSSI YAMAHA 1'55.799 1'55.414 1'55.790 1.098 0.203
11 9 D.PETRUCCI DUCATI 1'56.419 1'55.760 1'55.435 1.119 0.021
12 99 J.LORENZO DUCATI 1'55.607 1'55.604 1'55.461 1.145 0.026
13 19 A.BAUTISTA DUCATI 1'56.128 1'55.581 1'55.676 1.265 0.120
14 76 L.BAZ DUCATI 1'55.624 1'56.501 1'56.935 1.308 0.043
15 41 A.ESPARGARO APRILIA 1'55.872 1'55.750 1'55.634 1.318 0.010
16 43 J.MILLER HONDA 1'56.453 – 1'56.692 1.643 0.325
17 17 K.ABRAHAM DUCATI 1'56.399 – 1'56.095 1.687 0.044
18 42 A.RINS SUZUKI 1'56.502 – 1'56.249 1.863 0.176
19 53 T.RABAT HONDA 1'56.725 – 1'56.617 2.052 0.189
20 8 H.BARBERA DUCATI 1'56.725 1'56.934 1'57.005 2.409 0.357
21 22 S.LOWES APRILIA 1'57.887 1'57.517 1'56.854 2.538 0.129
22 44 P.ESPARGARO KTM 1'57.630 1'57.116 1'57.630 2.800 0.262
23 38 B.SMITH KTM 1'58.114 1'58.020 1'57.654 3.338 0.538

Grid positions based on combined FP time

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha 1'54.316
2 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.532
3 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.596
4 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 0.692
5 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.726
6 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 0.769
7 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.797
8 FOLGER Jonas 94 GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 0.892
9 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 0.895
10 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha 1.098
11 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1.119
12 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Ducati Team Ducati 1.145
13 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati 1.265
14 BAZ Loris 76 FRA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 1.308
15 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.318
16 MILLER Jack 43 AUS Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1.643
17 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati 1.687
18 RINS Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1.863
19 RABAT Tito 53 SPA Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 2.052
20 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 2.409
21 LOWES Sam 22 GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 2.538
22 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 2.800
23 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 3.338

03/25/17 Due to unusual weather conditions, a new provisional schedule was announced for MotoGP qualifying in Qatar.

The schedule for Saturday 25th March should be as follows, with an additional Free Practice session at 18.00 LT for the MotoGP class.

The MotoGP Extra Free Practice session will allow riders to assess the track conditions and will be followed by a Safety Commission meeting.

17:00-17:10 Track Inspection
18:00-18:20 MotoGP Extra Free Practice
18:55-19:40 Moto2 QP
19:55-20:25 MotoGP FP4
20:35-20:50 MotoGP Q1
21:00-21:15 MotoGP Q2
21:30-22.10 Moto3 QP