In this first qualifying of the year in Qatar, Maverick Vinales put his M1 Yamaha on pole position with a 1.53.546, +0.198 ahead of his closest competitor.

In Q1 we saw the likes of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Cal Crutchlow all going for the top two spots to progress into Q2. It was the two LCR Honda’s that made it into Q2 as Lorenzo went down at turn 2. Turn 2 claimed two other victims in the session with Tito Rabat and Johann Zarco falling at the same place.

In Q2, Vinales had set the pace throughout the session on the Yamaha.

With a minute to go, Miller gave us the first crash of the session which meant his qualifying was over.

Despite Andrea Dovizioso’s efforts on his Ducati, he claimed second spot and starts in the middle of the front row for tomorrow’s race.

On his last flying lap, Marc Marquez threw everything at it and gained the last spot on the front row.

Despite crashing, Miller starts in fourth place, rookie Fabio Quartararo starts fifth and Crutchlow completes the second row.

Quickest rider in FP4 Danilo Petrucci could only manage to get on the third row and starts in seventh tomorrow. Franco Morbidelli and Nakagami start alongside him.

#QATARGP timetables

Alex Rins heads the fourth row in 10^th ahead of his Suzuki teammate Joan Mir and Aleix Espargaro starts 12^th.

Pecco Bagnia starts on the fifth row alongside Rossi and Lorenzo in 14^th and 15^th.

Pol Espargaro starts 16^th, with Miguel Oliveira in 17^th and Tito Rabat in 18^th.

Andrea Iannone, Karel Abraham and Johann Zarco start on the seventh row.

Hafizh Syahrin and Bradley Smith complete the grid.

“I didn't expect to go fast like that today” - @mvkoficial12 🎙️#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/s2BIjqMCA9

— MotoGP™ 🇶🇦 (@MotoGP) 9 de marzo de 2019