Monster Yamaha’s Johann Zarco bounced back from a trip into the gravel trap in MotoGP free practice four to not only take pole for tomorrow’s Qatar race but smash Jorge Lorenzo’s decade-old outright lap record to boot.
The Frenchman, whose team boss Herve Poncharal said was suffering from the pressure of it all earlier today, came out with soft Michelins all round but a used front to set a 1’53.680 and go three-tenths under the benchmark set in 2008 and hold off the charging Marc Marquez by two-tenths.
Marquez, who opted for a medium/soft combination, was also under the old record with his 1’53.887s but he was shadowed by Danilo Petrucci. The Italian ended only 0.005s behind the reigning champion and his pace in FP4 combined with a front-row start puts him in podium contention.
Britain's Cal Crutchlow used a medium/soft combination to take fourth place and less then four-tenths behind Zarco. Andrea Dovizoso will start from fifth place after finishing 0.002s behind the LCR man while Suzuki's Alex Rins completes row two with a 1'54.339.
Dani Pedrosa, who was sitting in third place after his second run, slipped back to seventh with Valentino Rossi in eighth place. Lorenzo, who lost a massive four-tenths in the final sector on his fastest lap, will need a small miracle to see the podium at a track where he has been so strong in the past.
Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller was the fastest man in qualifying one and starts in tenth. Miller finished one second off the pace which only goes to show just how competitive the field is in 2018. He has Andrea Iannone and Maverick Vinales behind him. Vinales put in a solid race run during FP4 with more than ten laps in the 1'55s, so if he can get a start, he could be challenging for top five.
Aleix Espargaro took his Aprilia to 13th with Franky Morbidello and Hafizh Syharin battling it out for top rookie. The EG00 Honda man just won but by only 0.089s. Scott Redding finished in 17th, just behind Tito Rabat while it was disaster for the KTMs as both Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro broke down.
