Marquez maintains Doha domination breaking circuit lap record
In an incredibly close FP3 session Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez remained on top of the timings with his time of 1’54.822, breaking Casey Stoner’s circuit lap record from 2008 (1’55.153). Dani Pedrosa ended the session in fifth place, just 0.202 seconds off his teammate.
Marc has led every session so far in this weekend’s Qatar GP, the opening round of 2015, and his record time which was made on his final flying lap, beat Honda satellite rider Cal Crutchlow’s time by just 0.096s, and ensures he will not need to take part in tomorrow’s Q1. Marc’s teammate Dani Pedrosa finished in fifth place with his time of 1’55.024 and he also qualifies for Q2.
The riders will return on track for tomorrow’s FP4 at 19h55 local time. Then Q1 will take place at 20h35 and Q2 at 21h00 with both sessions expected to be very closely fought battles. Just 1.1 seconds separates the top nineteen riders, with a mere half a second between the top ten riders.
Marc Marquez
"Today has been a very good day, because we have improved our pace – which is the most important thing - and tried out a few things that have allowed us to progress. We will see tomorrow if the track conditions stay the same or improve, but today we saw times that were very close; I think that tomorrow they will be even closer. The most important thing will be to continue like this and prepare for Sunday’s race."
Dani Pedrosa
"Unlike yesterday, today we had two practice sessions and we were able to get more of a feel for both the bike and the track. I think that getting into Q1 is good and now we have to focus on tomorrow in order to make the final adjustments to the setup and qualify well for the race."
Results Session
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
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Location Information
The fabulous Lusail International Circuit lies on the outskirts of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Built in little over a year, the track cost $58 million USD and required round-the-clock dedication from almost 1,000 workers in order to get it ready for the inaugural event – the Marlboro Grand… read more.
| Length | 5.380 kilometres / 3.343 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 6 |
| Right corners | 10 |
| Longest straight | 1.068 kilometres / 0.664 miles |
| Constructed | 2004 |
Losail International Circuit, Al Daayen, Qatar - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 50.789s (174.8km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Lap | 1m 52.978s (171.4 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2023) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
