Tito Rabat got the first race weekend of the season in Qatar off to a flying start, finishing tonight’s two free practice sessions in second place and just 0.052s off Takaaki Nakagami’s provisional pole position time.
Mika Kallio posted the fastest lap during tonight’s opening free practice but, despite improving his time in the second session, eventually ended the evening tenth on the timesheet.
Tito Rabat // 2nd // 2’00.574
“The feeling with the bike was good from the start, the pace was fast and I felt comfortable with the lap times. The track was a little bit dirty today, like always on the first day in Qatar, but it will clean up tomorrow and the lap times will improve further. Tomorrow we will look for further improvements, but the good thing is that we only need to make small changes to the setup of the bike to achieve this. I’m happy to finally get the season underway and I’m pleased with how things have gone today here in Qatar.”
Mika Kallio // 10th // 2’01.039
“In the first session the feeling with the bike was good from the start, on the base setting we refined during preseason testing. My lap times were consistent and it’s always good to end the first session at the top of the timesheet. In the second session we used the harder option tyre, as there’s a good chance this will be the race tyre and, again, the lap times were consistent. What I didn’t get was a proper flying lap; I was on my fastest lap right at the end, with a red through sector 1, but I got the bike sideways out of turn 10 and lost time. Today was a good way to start the new season and tomorrow we will look for further improvements with the harder option tyre.”
Marc VDS Racing Team Press Release
