Honda's former triple world champion Lorenzo described himself as being "in pain everywhere" after a crash in the morning's third practice and, after being given medical clearance to compete in qualifying, another in Q1. Still not fully recovered from a wrist injury he suffered during training, the Spaniard will start at the back of the field. Motorcycling IWD special – 'Any sport should be equal' – FHO Racing boss on proving women belong in motorsport 04/03/2021 AT 16:15 Explaining how he was suffering from pain in his back, wrist, fingers and feet, Lorenzo said he believed the difficult cold and windy conditions at the Losail circuit would make Sunday's race "a survival test for everyone". Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco and Jack Miller also crashed in qualifying on the same second turn where Lorenzo suffered one of his tumbles. Spain's Yamaha rider Vinales, though, clocked a 1 minute 53.546 seconds lap to lead the qualifiers, 0.198sec faster than Italian Andrea Dovizioso (1:53.744) who pipped Spanish world champion Marc Marquez (1:53.745) for third. Marquez conceded that conditions were "scary" for the riders and said the race's evening start time on Sunday could still prove problematic for the field. Motorcycling Malaysian MotoGP testing cancelled due to pandemic 12/01/2021 AT 15:47<doc-sep>The combination of heat and strong wind ensured laptimes in the daytime FP3 were almost uniformly slower than what was set in the Friday evening FP2 session, so the roster of riders securing an automatic bye to Q2 was left unchanged. Only Pramac Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia, KTM's Pol Espargaro and Tech 3 KTM's Miguel Oliveira managed to improve on their previous best times of the weekend, and their efforts weren't enough to break into the top 10 in the combined classification. Lorenzo, who was narrowly outside that top 10 after Friday, crashed less than halfway into his first flying lap, high-siding off the Honda through the sweeping Turn 6 left-hander. He seemed to be in pain after the crash, and immediately called time on his session, heading to the medical centre for x-rays on his back and neck. He is understood to have escaped any major injuries. Just moments after Lorenzo's shunt, Marquez went wide over the kerb exiting Turn 13, which caused the bike to fold under the reigning champion. By that point Suzuki rider Alex Rins had already recorded a 1m55.142s, which kept him top of the timing screens until the very final minutes of the session. Marquez, who had remounted the bike after his crash, went almost half a second quicker than Rins with less than five minutes to go. His 1m54.677s was enough to secure him first place in FP3, although rookie Bagnaia and Espargaro were just 0.063s and 0.202s off his pace in the end. Valentino Rossi, who topped FP1 but was left outside of the overall top 10 after FP2, used a fresh soft rear tyre late on in an attempt to secure a Q2 bye. He was not successful, finishing the session in fourth place, ahead LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami – who is likewise resigned to contesting Q1. Rins was sixth despite crashing at Turn 2 after the chequered flag, while Franco Morbidelli led fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales in seventh, with all three progressing to Q2. Also entering the final qualifying segment are Ducati riders Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller, Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, Marquez and rookie pair Fabio Quartararo (Petronas SRT Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Suzuki). Session results:<doc-sep>Jorge Lorenzo concedes he will run “a survival race” on his Repsol Honda debut in Qatar after suffering two crashes which have each triggered major concerns. A heavy high-side off during the opening stages of FP3 saw Lorenzo miss the remainder of the session to have x-rays before being given the green light to return to action by the MotoGP medical team at the Losail International Circuit. Lorenzo says he’s suffering with back pain as a result of the practice crash, but also has worries following a second off sustained at Turn 2 during qualifying. The Spaniard has been one of the most vocal supporters of moving the MotoGP race start time forward by one hour due to fears over track conditions caused by falling temperatures. Five MotoGP storylines set to unfold fin Video of Five MotoGP storylines set to unfold fin The Repsol Honda rider has duly blamed his qualifying off on the cold conditions, with three other riders also falling at the same corner across Q1 and Q2, which has led to him calling his debut for the factory Honda squad “a survival race.” “It is a survival race for everyone but especially for me because my inexperience of the bike and my condition. It is now not only the wrist but especially now this back problem. I also have the foot and some fingers,” Lorenzo said. “I am feeling pain everywhere so with these conditions so cold for me it is going to be totally a survival race for everyone in general but especially for me. “I have a some pain in my back, we are going to go to sleep now and see how I wake up tomorrow. If I feel not so well maybe I will need to do some more checks. If I feel better I will go to the track and see for the race tomorrow. “It has not been a great day today, really unlucky with the first crash. It was a combination of factors that made me crash and it was a very nasty crash. This creates some physical problems. “As for the qualifying crash it was because the conditions were too cold. So it is not a good day for us.” Lorenzo has qualified in 15th place for his Repsol Honda debut in Qatar, one spot behind former Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi. The MotoGP race start time has not been moved forward by organisers following talks at the riders safety commission meeting on Friday after FP2.<doc-sep>
Lorenzo, still not fully recovered from a wrist injury sustained during training in the winter, had a hefty crash in Saturday morning's third practice session, high-siding off his bike at Turn 6. He was taken to the medical centre but was declared fit to continue, going on to take 15th in FP4 and looking well-placed to advance from the first part of qualifying into Q2. But the Spaniard crashed again in Q1, this time at Turn 2, the most critical point of the track during the changing conditions at night - which had led riders to call for an earlier race start time. Lorenzo was the first of four riders to fall at Turn 2 in qualifying, with Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco and Jack Miller all suffering similar incidents. With the race still set to start at 8pm local time on Sunday, Lorenzo believes it will be "survival" for everyone but especially for him, as he has pain in his back, wrist, fingers and feet. "[It will be] a survival race for everyone," said Lorenzo, who will start his first race with Honda from 15th. "But especially for me because of my inexperience with the bike and my fitness conditions. "Now it is not only the wrist but especially this back problem. Also the foot and fingers, I'm in pain everywhere. "With these conditions, so cold, it's gonna be totally survival race for everyone in general but especially for me." Lorenzo added that he might undergo further checks on Sunday, depending on how his condition changes overnight. "We're gonna go to sleep now and let's see how I wake up tomorrow, if I feel not so well maybe I need to do some more checks," he said. "If I feel better I will go to the track and let's see the race tomorrow. "It has not been a great day today, very unlucky with the first crash because was a combination of factors that made me crash and was a very nasty crash. "It created some physical problems. Also in qualifying I suffer a crash because the conditions we too cold. Not a good day for us." Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont