Crutchlow leads Qualifying 1 and now advances to Qualifying 2 along with team-mate Nakagami. Already sore from a big highside in FP3, Lorenzo was one of several riders to tumble during the 15-minute session. The Spaniard seemed to gesture that the slippery conditions he had been warning about late at night had caught him out. To make things worse for Lorenzo, he was then pushed outside of the top two. Rossi will also be absent from Qualifying 2, and start from just 14th on the grid. The Italian was unable to feature in the top positions throughout Q1. CLICK HERE for live updates … Fastest Friday time: Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 53.380s Fastest time at 2019 Qatar Test: Maverick Vinales SPA Yamaha 1m 54.208s Official Qatar MotoGP records: Best lap: Johann Zarco FRA Yamaha 1m 53.680s (2018) Fastest race lap: Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 54.927s (2016)<doc-sep>Marquez grabbed a tow from Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales late in the session to eclipse Johann Zarco's existing lap record set in qualifying last year. The session, held in the evening under the lights and thus more representative for the race than the daytime FP1 and FP3, was delayed by five minutes for track clean-up following ex-MotoGP rider Tom Luthi's big crash exiting the Turn 7 right-hander in Moto2 practice. When it kicked off, Rossi's first-practice benchmark was surpassed in almost no time, as Marquez fired in the first sub-1m55s lap of the weekend on just his second flying lap. He was briefly overtaken by Ducati's Danilo Petrucci a few minutes later, but immediately responded with a 1m54.767s to end his opening run out front. The reigning champion remained top until Suzuki rookie Joan Mir equipped a pair of fresh soft tyres and shot up to first place from 13th with a 1m54.433s as late-session qualifying simulations kicked off. Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller, likewise on new softs, soon surpassed Mir, before Franco Morbidelli took his turn out front, having recovered from a high-speed Turn 1 crash earlier in FP2, which had left his Yamaha on fire. Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso then went quickest with five minutes left on the clock, but was subsequently outpaced by Vinales. However, Marquez crossed the start-finish line moments after the Yamaha man to go almost half a second quicker with a 1m53.380s, the new lap record. Vinales' effort proved good enough for second, ahead of Miller and the Aussie's former teammate Petrucci. Rookie Fabio Quartararo scored an impressive fifth, two places up on Petronas SRT Yamaha teammate Morbidelli, with Dovizioso slotting in between the pair. Suzuki's Alex Rins fired in a personal-best at the chequered flag to move up to eighth place, ahead of Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro and Mir. Rins' last-gasp effort demoted Marquez's new teammate Jorge Lorenzo to 11th, as he ended the session 1.048s off the pace. Rossi was only 17th, the only rider in the field not to improve on his FP1 lap. He and Lorenzo, as well as 13th-placed LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, potentially face having to go through Q1, as posting a better laptime is likely to be difficult in the daytime third practice. Pol Espargaro led the way among the KTM contingent, posting the 16th-best time, 1.673s slower than Marquez. FP2 times:<doc-sep>The start time for the MotoGP season opener had been moved an hour later compared to 2018, but many riders have called for this to be reversed, as experiences from pre-season testing had left them concerned about late-evening track conditions. After an initial push to bring the race start back forward was resisted before the weekend, top riders again lobbied for the change and vowed to bring it up in Friday's Safety Commission meeting. Yet despite what appeared to be widespread support for a 7pm start, it has now been confirmed that the race will kick off at 8pm local time as scheduled. Friday's second practice had kicked off at 8.05 pm after a small delay and saw few dramas, with only Franco Morbidelli suffering a fast crash at Turn 1 – while Marc Marquez set the fastest-ever lap of the circuit. Speaking before the Safety Commission, LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow said the conditions had been “perfect” in FP2, yet stressed that even light rainfall during the weekend could cause dew to build up, which would lead to higher humidity while track temperatures dropped. “Track temperature, as we saw in the Moto2 test last week, 17-18 degrees [Celsius] at 8,” he said. “In our test there was I don't know how many, 12 crashes, after 7.30. You can imagine our feeling about it. “I love this race, I love Qatar, the way that they do it. “It makes a good race, but if the dew on the track is like sometimes it can be, they won't have any finishers. “No matter how fast or slow you ride, there would be no finishers. If it is really, really bad like we've seen.” His LCR teammate Takaaki Nakagami agreed with the Briton, saying: “For sure 7 will be better, more safety. “Around end of the race, around 8.30, almost conditions completely change - even during the test, [around] 8'o clock, I had a crash, feelings in the front tyre completely change.” Existing television commitments were reportedly key to race direction's refusal to grant a change in start time. It is, however, understood that series promoter Dorna has assured riders it will explore the possibility to revert to a 7pm start next year. Additional reporting by Khodr Rawi<doc-sep>
The race at the Losail International Circuit is set to kick off at 8pm local time, an hour later than last year, but riders remain concerned about track conditions at that point in the day, following a spate of evening crashes in pre-season testing at the venue. Series organisers were known to be evaluating a change to the timetable after Jorge Lorenzo lobbied Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, but in the end the schedule remained provisionally unaltered. However, the door was left open for tweaks to be made during the weekend, and on Thursday Lorenzo renewed calls to bring the race forward. Asked about his lack of race simulation practice in pre-season testing, Lorenzo explained: “During the test I did a half [race run], my plan was to do 10 laps, but the temperature dropped a lot and also the humidity, going quite smooth I crashed at Turn 2. “Hopefully the race will get [moved] early on Sunday. “For sure I will try to speak tomorrow in the Safety Commission because at 8 o’clock, drops dramatically the temperature and also the humidity is quite dangerous.” Reigning champion Marc Marquez echoed the viewpoint of his new Honda teammate. “Last year we raced at 7 and it was a really good race,” he said. “The temperature and humidity was fine. I prefer to race at 7. Less risky, and for the show it will be better”. Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales both agreed that the switch would be preferable and “more safe”. “We have to discuss for sure in the Safety Commission, but anyway like the other riders say, finally at 7 the risk is much less, and for sure the grip on the track will be much better and we can push much more,” Vinales said. “For sure will be a better show, but anyway we have to discuss tomorrow and see what we can do.” Finally, Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso – the winner in Qatar last year – was more reserved than the Honda and Yamaha riders, but still leaned towards an earlier start. “The point is every day the conditions are different. Sometimes the humidity starts very early, sometimes no. Maybe it’s better to take a decision early and race a bit before, I don’t know,” he said. Dovizioso also expressed his frustration at the format of the weekend, under which two practice sessions and the Sunday morning warm-up are held in daytime conditions, which are not representative for qualifying and the race. “The point is during the day already we make two practices, this is bad, because it’s not very good to prepare the race. But this is the condition we find here.”