Ajo Motorsport rider starts first GP of the year in Qatar with second fastest time overall.

Johann Zarco made a good start to the weekend in Qatar, on the opening night of the 2015 Moto2 World Championship season. At the Losail International Circuit, the Frenchman was fast from the very first laps on Thursday night. Second in both the first session and in the combined timesheet, light rainfall prevented him from improving his times in the second runout.

The first 45 minutes of free practice for the year allowed Johann Zarco to confirm his good feeling from preseason onboard his Kalex. From his first flying lap, the Frenchman was the fastest rider on track and improved his best time on five occasions. Leading the session, only a late lap from Sam Lowes left him second, with a time of 2:00.339.

In the second session, fine and intermittent rain complicated the work for Zarco and the rest of the Moto2 grid. He was unable to lower his previous lap times as a result. Nevertheless, the Ajo Motorsport rider continued amongst the Top 3, completing the session with the third fastest time of 2:00.687.

Tomorrow’s schedule will feature a single free practice session for Moto2, starting at 7:55pm local time.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)
1. Sam Lowes (Speed Up) 1:59.717
2. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 2:00.339 +0.622
3. Tito Rabat (Kalex) 2:00.368 +0.651
4. Axel Pons (Kalex) 2:01.043 +1.326
5. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 2:01.123 +1.406

Johann Zarco

“Today went very well. The good thing is that it’s only the first day and we still have time to improve. The aim is to prepare for Sunday’s race. I went pretty fast from the beginning. The setup we found was good but not the best, and that is good news. We know where we should go from here and will test out a few things. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s session, and I think it will go well too. I want to remain consistent and prepare for the race. It’s strange, because we come from the Spanish winter to the heat of Qatar, and are also on a fast track. But I like it and I’m very happy with how the first day went.”