With track conditions being considerably hot, no riders were able to improve their lap times from yesterdays Free Practice Two session

Marc VDS’s Sam Lowes leads the pack from SKY Racing VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi and Italtrans Joe Roberts. The top three riders spent the 40 minute session focusing on setup and tyre choice, with Joe Roberts finishing in second position, Sam Lowes in fifth position and Bezzecchi in ninth.

Bo Bendsneyder suffered an early crash at turn one, but was back on track throughout the rest of the session and will be fighting for his career best qualifying in Moto 2. Jake Dixon also suffered an early crash, this time at turn seven; the Brit was constantly checking his wrist, but he seems unhurt and will look to fight for his maiden front-row qualifying position.

Rookies Raul Fernandez and Tony Arbolino have started their Moto 2 debuts in a successful manner, qualifying for Q2 for the opening round. This will be a huge confidence boost for them and they’ll looking to impress in the qualifying session later today. Despite not making it to Q2, SKY Racing VR46’s Celestino Vietti’s Free Practice Three session was very strong, ending the session in fourth position, so he could be one to look out for in the Q1 session.

Spaniards Jorge Navarro and Aron Canet were the only riders to qualify for Q2 with the Boscoscuro chassis, finishing in tenth and fourteenth. Both of their rookie team-mates Albert Arenas and Yari Montella finished in 21st and 28th positions; Albert has shown glimpses a great pace so he could be a contender for the top four qualifying positions in Q1. Yari is still getting used the Losail International Circuit and the Moto 2 bike, so he’s unlikely to be a challenger but you never know.

16-year-old rookie Barry Baltus had a massive highside out of turn one and has sustained an injury to his wrist and has been declared unfit for the opening round of the season, a big blow to the Belgians debut Moto 2 season.

Qualifying 1 and 2 will take place at 18:25 and 18:50 (GMT+3), who will claim the first pole position of the season?

Featured Image: MotoGP.com