Dovizioso dominates first day of Qatar test, Marquez falls twice

Dovizioso lapped the Losail International Circuit, widely recognised as a happy hunting ground for Ducati, in 1m54.818s, coming up just 0.008s short of the benchmark time from last year's pre-season test.

That time had been set by Jorge Lorenzo, and it was the Spaniard, now a Ducati rider, who Dovizioso deposed with a little over two hours left on the clock to top the session.

The Ducati 1-2 was not to last as Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, who had headed testing at Sepang and Phillip Island, moved up to second place, ending the session 0.361s adrift of Dovizioso.

With an hour to go, Lorenzo was then demoted to fifth by LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow and the Ducati Desmosedici GP15 of Karel Abraham (Aspar).

Tech 3 Yamaha's Jonas Folger maintained his strong form from Phillip Island to take sixth, heading works rider Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda man Dani Pedrosa and his own teammate Johann Zarco.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez was only 12th, 1.081s off the pace, his day punctuated by two crashes.

The Spaniard first fell midway through the session shortly after heading out on a trial run with Honda's new fairing, and then crashed at Turn 2 in the final hour.

Moto2 graduates Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Sam Lowes (Aprilia) likewise fell at that spot in quick succession, as did Pol Espargaro (KTM), for whom it was the second crash of the day.

Rins and Lowes' more experienced teammates Andrea Iannone and Aleix Espargaro had earlier falls of their own, Iannone finishing the session in 10th place - as the last rider within a second of Dovizioso.

The KTM contingent had the track mostly to themselves in the opening hours, but subsequently spent most of the day at the tail end of the timesheets. They were led by Pol Espargaro in 19th, 1.847s off the pace.

Day 1 results

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1:54.818
2	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha	1:55.179	0.361
3	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1:55.420	0.602
4	Karel Abraham	Ducati	1:55.613	0.795
5	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	1:55.617	0.798
6	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	1:55.641	0.823
7	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1:55.679	0.861
8	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	1:55.691	0.873
9	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	1:55.704	0.886
10	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	1:55.751	0.933
11	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	1:55.829	1.011
12	Marc Marquez	Honda	1:55.900	1.082
13	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1:55.915	1.097
14	Jack Miller	Honda	1:56.017	1.199
15	Scott Redding	Ducati	1:56.084	1.266
16	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	1:56.116	1.298
17	Loris Baz	Ducati	1:56.193	1.375
18	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1:56.589	1.771
19	Pol Espargaro	KTM	1:56.666	1.848
20	Sam Lowes	Aprilia	1:57.091	2.273
21	Tito Rabat	Honda	1:57.456	2.638
22	Mika Kallio	KTM	1:58.039	3.221
23	Bradley Smith	KTM	1:58.754	3.936