After topping Friday practice, Spanish rider Canet also set the pace in his first qualifying session with former MotoGP star Max Biaggi's new KTM squad, beating Leopard Honda rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta by 0.197 seconds at the end of a new-look session. Both Moto3 and Moto2 have switched to a MotoGP-style two-part qualifying format for the 2019 season, with the top 14 from practice securing automatic Q2 berths. The remaining 15 riders were left to fight it out in Q1 for four slots to join the pole shootout. Sky VR46 newcomer Celestino Vietti topped the opening session with a best lap of 2m06.689s, with John McPhee (Petronas SRT), Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Raul Fernandez (Angel Nieto) joining the Italian in making it through to Q2. First to dip underneath Vietti's benchmark in Q2 was Romano Fenati (Snipers Team) with a 2m06.681s, followed by teammate Tony Arbolino and Kaito Toba (Team Asia). Toba's benchmark stood for around a minute before it was bettered by Canet, who put himself a quarter of a second clear with a 2m05.883s with four minutes left on the clock. At the chequered flag, Dalla Porta grabbed second ahead of Toba, while Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) moved up to fourth ahead of McPhee and Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58). Albert Arenas (Nieto), Arbolino, Vietti and Vicente Perez (Avintia) completed the top 10. Fenati - back in Moto3 this year with his old Snipers outfit after losing his Moto2 ride last year - did not leave the pits in time to begin what should have been his final flying lap. The Italian will start Sunday's season opener from 12th, one place ahead of Gresini's new rider Gabriel Rodrigo, who has recovered from breaking his right collarbone in testing. Last year's Valencia Moto3 winner Can Oncu (Ajo) will start his first race as a full-time rider in 18th after ending up slowest of all in Q2. Q2 results:<doc-sep>The 2019 Qatar Grand Prix will begin, as planned, at 8pm local time on Sunday evening. As several leading riders explained on Thursday , 'most' wanted the start time moved to 7pm, the same time as last season, to lower the risk of slippery dew forming on the track surface. The issue was discussed during Friday evening's Safety Commission meeting where 'the riders pushed for 7pm', but it seems it was too late to change, presumably due to TV scheduling. "Most of the riders preferred 7pm," confirmed reigning world champion Marc Marquez. "Today was perfect conditions but you never know. Yesterday was very, very cold. So, most of the riders prefer 7pm, but they said that 8pm would be the race time. "Last year was 7pm and they said maybe next year will be 7pm again, but this year it will be 8pm." The Repsol Honda rider, fastest on Friday, added: "Yes, we pushed, all the riders pushed for 7pm. "But they said we rode very fast today and with not many crashes. But today was a very nice day, on Sunday we will see…" Fellow Honda rider Cal Crutchlow warned: "Today was perfect at 8 o’clock, but tomorrow could be [like] light rain. As we saw in the Moto2 test last week it was 17 degrees at 8 o’clock. In our test there were twelve crashes after 7:30. "Last week after the test, I was told it couldn’t be moved... 100 percent [I'd want a 7pm start]. I’d vote for a quarter to 7 just to make sure. But then I’d probably complain it was too hot for the front tyre!" The Englishman added: "Listen, I love this [night] race, I love Qatar and the way they do it. I think it’s a good spectacle. We always have good racing, as you’ve seen from the last couple of years. "But if the dew on the track is as it can be, there won’t be any finishers. No matter how fast or slow you ride, there will be no finishers. You’ll see..." Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso felt the issue should have been addressed earlier (although Jorge Lorenzo made his concerns clear after the recent test ). "I think it is almost impossible to change the [time] two days before the race. I think it is very difficult, for many reasons," Dovi said. "If we really want to change something then we need to think and speak on time. Every day the condition is different and the humidity starts at a different time: now it is perfect and tomorrow it could be very bad. "It’s true that if you race at 7 then there is less risk." Prior to last season the Qatar night race started at 9pm.<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>
Aron Canet found an amazing burst of pace to slash the lap record and lead the way at the end of day one of the season-opening Qatar Moto3 Grand Prix weekend. Practice is more crucial than ever with all classes now following the MotoGP qualifying format and the favourable conditions under the floodlights in the evening when it is cooler, cleaner and grippier meant the session was expected to produce the best times. The Spaniard, riding for Max Biaggi’s new team - Sterilgarda Max Racing Team - wasted no time in showing his pace, leading the way as the first rider to dip into the 2m 04s at the track on his KTM with a best of 2m 04.561s. His closest rival was Romano Fenati, who finished nearly six tenths behind. The Snipers Team rider did his best to put to bed his controversial 2018 season by kicking off the new one as first to show record pace aboard the Honda to head the FP1standings, building on his dominant performance in the final Qatar test on his way to second. Nico Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) had the dubious honour of being the first to crash this season after an early turn nine tumble during the opening session, but rallied for third in the FP2 with a much improved performance where he too briefly lead the way. The Italian has a good recent qualifying record at the desert track, having sat on pole for the opening race of 2018. Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) secured fourth at the close of the session with a late fast lap. Gabriel Rodrigo (Gresini) finished fifth - an amazing feat given he was only declared fit to ride in the morning after breaking his collarbone in testing and having recently had a plate fitted. Last season he missed the opening race - after fracturing his collarbone in FP1. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) claimed the sixth best time, Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard) - a pre-season favourite after last years championship leaders moved on-finished the day seventh, while Tony Arbolino on the second Snipers entry climbed to eighth. Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) had pace strong enough for ninth while Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) did enough to complete the top ten. Valencia winner Can Oncu was the best of the new rookie charges, his track knowledge gained from his time in the Asia Talent Cup helping the Turkish rising star to thirteenth for Red Bull KTM Ajo. John McPhee had a disaster - the Petronas Sprinta Racing rider spent most of his time outside the provisional Q2 qualifying places, jumped up to 14th with a final push, only to get swallowed and shuffled back to 16th at the chequered flag. Fellow Briton Tom Booth-Amos (CIP- Green Power) still has progress to make, ending his day in 27th. Moto3 return to track on Saturday for their first experience of the new qualifying format.