2018 Qatar winner Kaito Toba ends the opening day of Moto3 action fastest ahead of Red Bull KTM AJO’s Jaume Masia and Gresini’s Gabriel Rodrigo.

The Moto3 World Championship roared back to life in Qatar today as the junior class took to the Losail International Circuit for their opening sessions of the weekend, with rookie Pedro Acosta leading the way in free practice one, but it was Japan’s Kaito Toba who took control in the faster free practice two session.

Toba’s 2:04.839 saw the 20-year-old finish the opening day of action +0.042s clear of Masia and 0.068s quicker than third place man, Rodrigo. The Argentine piped Sergio Garcia who led a seriously improved Jason Dupasquier, who finished the opening day of track action in fifth, ahead of the experienced Niccolo Antonelli on the Avintia machine.

Jeremy Alcoba made it two Gresini’s inside the top ten by placing seventh on the timesheets, +0.182s off Toba’s session-topping time, in what was another close Moto3 battle. John McPhee got his season off in the right way, finishing inside the crucial top 14. The Oban rider wrapped the day up in eighth ahead of Andrea Migno and Max Kofler. The German rider rounded out the top ten with a 2:05.107, +0.268s off Toba.

Carlos Tatay completed the day in 11th place with the leading Leopard machine of Dennis Foggia. Ayumu Sasaki finished the day in 13th, while rookie Acosta completed the top 14.

That means, ahead of the qualifying deciding free practice three tomorrow, Darryn Binder, Romano Fenati, Xavier Artigas, Izan Guevara and Tatsuki Suzuki (who returns to action following a positive COVID-19 test) all have their work cut out in tomorrow’s day-time session.

Moto3 returns to the 3.3-mile circuit tomorrow for their third and final practice session, kicking off at 13:25 local time.

Featured image: MotoGP.com