Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Rain helps Vinales take Qatar MotoGP pole

Maverick Vinales will make his Yamaha debut on pole position after qualifying for MotoGP's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix was abandoned due to poor weather.

MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales of the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team
Spaniard Maverick Vinales will make his Yamaha debut on pole position. (AAP)

Spaniard Maverick Vinales will make his Yamaha debut on pole position after qualifying for MotoGP's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix was abandoned due to rain and thunderstorms.

With standing water left by overnight rain and more storms building up, all action on the Losail track was cancelled for the evening with the starting grids for Sunday's race decided on combined times from practice.

Vinales, the 22-year-old who has replaced compatriot Jorge Lorenzo in the Yamaha works team lineup and was fastest on Friday, therefore secured his first pole position in the top flight.

The Spaniard, who moved from Suzuki at the end of last year, set the fastest time of 1min 54.316sec in Thursday's first practice session for the only night race on the calendar.

He was joined on the front row by Suzuki's Italian rider Andrea Iannone and reigning triple world champion Marc Marquez on a Honda.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"It's been very strange, and strange that it rains in Qatar," said Vinales.

"It was difficult today, it wasn't okay for wet tyres or dry tyres. It was too risky to go out," he added. "For me, it's safety first and it's tricky conditions."

Nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi, Vinales's team mate, will start tenth with triple MotoGP champion Lorenzo 12th on his debut for Ducati.

The factory KTM team, making their MotoGP debut with Britain's Bradley Smith and Spaniard Pol Espargaro, were last in qualifying.

Grids for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes were also decided on combined times.


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world