Andrea Iannone ended the final session of free practice at the top of the timesheets, leading Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso to a Desmosedici 1-2. Marc Marquez was the only other rider to get close, ending the session just over a quarter of a second slower than Iannone.
Jorge Lorenzo lead the Yamaha armada in 4th, the Movistar Yamaha man nearly seven tenths slower than Iannone, and ahead of Valentino Rossi, Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith. Cal Crutchlow ended eighth.
With FP4 being the best indication of race pace, and the last chance to work on race set up, everyone was out on race tires, mainly the medium rear. Dovizioso's race pace was surprising, as good as or better than that of Marquez. The Italian and the Spaniard appear to have the jump on the rest of the field.
Results:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | 1'55.088 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'55.267 | 0.179 | 0.179 |
| 3 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'55.357 | 0.269 | 0.090 |
| 4 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'55.763 | 0.675 | 0.406 |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'55.828 | 0.740 | 0.065 |
| 6 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1'55.850 | 0.762 | 0.022 |
| 7 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1'55.900 | 0.812 | 0.050 |
| 8 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'55.931 | 0.843 | 0.031 |
| 9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1'55.963 | 0.875 | 0.032 |
| 10 | 69 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | 1'55.967 | 0.879 | 0.004 |
| 11 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'56.057 | 0.969 | 0.090 |
| 12 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1'56.062 | 0.974 | 0.005 |
| 13 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'56.097 | 1.009 | 0.035 |
| 14 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1'56.291 | 1.203 | 0.194 |
| 15 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'56.327 | 1.239 | 0.036 |
| 16 | 45 | Scott Redding | Honda | 1'56.367 | 1.279 | 0.040 |
| 17 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'56.470 | 1.382 | 0.103 |
| 18 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Yamaha Forward | 1'56.533 | 1.445 | 0.063 |
| 19 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Honda | 1'56.711 | 1.623 | 0.178 |
| 20 | 63 | Mike Di Meglio | Ducati | 1'56.855 | 1.767 | 0.144 |
| 21 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | 1'56.873 | 1.785 | 0.018 |
| 22 | 76 | Loris Baz | Yamaha Forward | 1'57.346 | 2.258 | 0.473 |
| 23 | 15 | Alex De Angelis | ART | 1'57.641 | 2.553 | 0.295 |
| 24 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1'57.865 | 2.777 | 0.224 |
| 25 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia | 1'58.986 | 3.898 | 1.121 |
Comments
Any chance you could note who
Any chance you could note who did one off fast laps on the super soft vs who did distance runs?
Iannone? Hayden? Et al?
Thanks David!
:)
(And thanks Yamaha...we were a bit worried for a bit there). My eyes are on the boys in Red, tire wear after half distance, ever changing Qatar track surface condition (Hooray for no more stadium construction dust!). Way at the back curious about a battle for "Not Last" between the old DeAngelis ART bike and this year's Aprilia. Melan(choly)dri doesn't count, he is the inverse of Marquez last season. Just assume he marks the back, and count forward from there for "least worst of the rest." What is the opposite of an alien, anyway? An Ape? Hang in there Marco, it is almost Michelin time. If anyone asks, say Dorna asked you to work with the safety car crew until tire testing. There isn't a watch, but they can give you a "SAFETY" jersey to put over your leathers. Look busy, no one will notice. What do you think of that Torres kid btw? Oh, never mind, I see you are busily monitoring potential track hazards. Keep up the good work!
;)
No soft tires in FP4
Nobody used a soft in FP4. It's the only session they get to focus solely on race pace.
Thanks. Taste of a 2015 Ducati?
Thanks.
When you get a moment can you also please lick one of the Factory Ducati bikes and say what it tastes like? I am thinking it must be sweet and robust. Not more flavorful than the Japanese bikes, but more inviting and tempting. Stay away from a hot tail mind you.
(On Thursdays do they still have "hams" cheese, bread and two varietals of wine in their garage? Last time I licked a Ducati MotoGP bike was with Loris at Laguna Seca the first year back, never even noticed the hospitality girls. It was pungent).
;)