Fabio Quartararo tops a windy and dusty FP3 ahead of Suzukis

It was a slow start to action on day-two of the Doha MotoGP Grand Prix, as extreme winds and dust made setting a quick lap a non factor. 

Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo was one of the first to head out and became the early pace setter with many of the riders staying in pit lane, including the Ducati’s of Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller and Johann Zarco who were FP2’s top runners. 

But after spending a lengthy period of time in pit lane himself during the middle part of the session, Quartararo completed a 1'56.064s lap time on his final run to clinch top spot. 

Second and third were the Suzukis of Alex Rins and Joan Mir, with the world champion spending much of the session on top. 

Danilo Petrucci was the top KTM rider in fourth as was the case in the first session this time yesterday. 

Fifth and sixth were the Yamahas of Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli. It was a smoother session for the 2020 championship runner-up Morbidelli who had no signs of the smoke issues from yesterday. 

Eighteen riders completed laps with only four Ducatis choosing not to venture out. Those riders were Miller, Zarco, Jorge Martin and Luca Marini. 

The top Ducati who did complete a lap was rookie Enea Bastianini in seventh, while Alex Marquez was the top Honda in eighth. 

Rounding out the top ten were Valentino Rossi in ninth who was one of the busiest riders during the ‘slow’ session, while tenth was Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro. 

Riders will next be on track later today for the night sessions of FP4 and qualifying, with the blustery conditions expected to be a factor once more.