Qatar MotoGP GP: Cortese, Luthi and Stoner close free practice in first place

Yesterday afternoon brought the second free practice sessions for the MotoGP riders and, also, the third ones for the three categories. The Qatari night “dawned” with a wind that caused more dirt to build up on the track, especially outside the racing line.

Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo dominated both MotoGP sessions. Thomas Luthi once again set the fastest time in the Moto2 category, while Sandro Cortese was the quickest in the new Moto3.

Sandro Cortese takes his KTM to first place

After somehow managing to save a front-end crash, Sandro Cortese set, in the final minute, a time of 2:08.342 that moved his factory KTM into first place in the standings. His teammate, Danny Kent, finished in sixth position after being one of the dominant riders of the session.

Romano Fenati, right behind Luis Salom, was just a few thousandths away from beating the German rider. The Italian was only 34 thousandths slower. The first Spaniard to finish was third, Luis Salom, followed by Maverick Viñales and Miguel Oliveira.

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Thomas Luthi is once again the fastest

Thomas Luthi has started the Moto2 free practice sessions on the right foot. The Swiss rider is dominating every practice session, which shows he is a clear favourite for victory. Yesterday he went all out, setting the lap to follow from the start, although it was not until the last quarter of an hour that he set his best time, 2:00.479, finishing less than half a second off the circuit record.

The two Kalex bikes from Pons 40 HP Tuenti came in behind Suter’s. In second place, just forty thousandths behind, Pol Espargaró finished. Esteve Rabat, on the other hand, who had been at the top at certain moments of the session, finished more than six tenths behind the Interwetten-Paddock rider.

Scott Redding and Claudio Corti closed out the top five, while Marc Márquez was ninth, just over a second off.

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Jorge Lorenzo breaks Stoner’s dominance

For a long time and in many practice sessions he had been at the top, but yesterday in FP3 Casey Stoner watched as his Yamaha rival, Jorge Lorenzo, snatched the fastest time of the day from him. The Majorcan, flying low over Qatari asphalt, stopped the clock at 1:55.302.

Casey Stoner, on his fast lap with soft tyres, found traffic on track, which prevented him from catching Lorenzo. Even so, he finished third, just over a tenth behind. And who finished between the two? Cal Crutchlow. The British rider surprised everyone by putting himself at the top of the standings before finally finishing in a superb second position.

Andrea Dovizioso closed out a good afternoon for Yamaha by finishing in fourth position, while Dani Pedrosa was the first rider not to go under 1:56, setting his time at 1:56.114.

Héctor Barberá deserves credit for a good performance in this FP3. The Pramac rider was at the front for the entire free practice session, finally finishing in sixth place just over eight tenths behind. He was also the first Ducati, finishing just under four tenths ahead of Rossi.

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