Miller and Bagnaia end first and second respectively Day 1 of free practices of the Doha GP in Qatar

  The Ducati Lenovo Team returned to action at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar today for the Doha GP, the second Grand Prix of the 2021 MotoGP season. After completing just a few laps during this afternoon's first session due to the scorching temperature on the track, Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia headed into FP2 this evening, determined to gain direct access into Q2 tomorrow. 

In the final minutes of the second session, Miller set the fastest time of the day in 1:53.145. Immediately behind him, his teammate Francesco Bagnaia closed in second place at just 313 thousandths, followed by the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team rider Johann Zarco to complete an all-Ducati trio. In total, there are four red machines from Borgo Panigale in the top five positions of Friday's combined standings, as Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing Team) was fifth, just 448 thousandths off Miller's pace.

Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1:53.145 (1st)
"I'm delighted with the feeling I've had with the bike this evening. In my first "time attack" attempt, I was really pushing hard, and I had a little bit of a moment!. Luckily I managed not to crash, and I went back quickly on track and set a good lap time that I am really content with. I think we still have room for improving tomorrow evening, and as always, I will give my best in qualifying".

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1:53.458 (2nd)
"I'm pleased with the work we have done today. Compared to last week, we preferred to use time in FP2 to do some tests with the soft tyres focusing mainly on our race pace. We made only one “time attack”. The feedback was positive, and tomorrow we will continue to work on this direction. I'm convinced that we can get another good result in qualifying and arrive well prepared for Sunday's race”.

The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow at 15:15 local time (CEST +1.00) for the third free practice session before qualifying from 20:00 at the end of FP4.