LOSAIL: Russian rider Evgeny Bobryshev brought delight in his Honda camp by topping the charts in the season’s first qualifying race under lights at Losail International Circuit.
Bobryshev, who rode for 13 laps, finished with the fastest time of 24:54.670 with the best digits of 1:46.561 recorded on the seventh lap.
The Russian’s effort was more than 6 seconds clear of defending world champion Romain Febvre who finished third fastest on his Yamaha.
However, Tim Gajser also impressed in his first official outing, claiming the second fastest time of 24:56.484.
Gajser’s best time of 1:46.409 was managed on lap 10, just 0:01.814 seconds off the mark set by Bobryshev.
Gajser is the 2015 MX2 world champion. Third-placed Febvre clocked 25:01.404 while his lap time of 1:45.805 was the fastest of the night.
Italian MXGP veteran Antonio Cairoli shook off the cobwebs with a fourth-fastest time of 25:11.312.
Cairoli, the eight-time world champion, was 0:16.642 seconds slower than Bobryshev.
Dutch rider Glenn Coldenhoff was fifth fastest on his KTM, clocking a time of 25:14.248 with his fasted time posted on the 11th lap. Honda’s French rider Gautier Paulin, Germany’s Maximilian Nagl, KTM’s British pilot Shaun Simpson, compatriot Tommy Searle of Kawasaki and Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos completed the top-10 riders in the qualifying session.
In the MX2 qualifying, Dutch star Jefferey Herlings stole the show on his KTM bike by emerging as the fastest on the dirt track at Losail International Circuit. Herlings (24:51.763), after missing most of last season, finished ahead of France’s Dylan Ferrandis of Kawasaki (24:53.546) and Latvia’s Pauls Jonass of KTM (25:26.900).
Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer, riding for Suzuki, was fourth fastest with a time of 25:29.999 while Frenchman Benoit Paturel (25:31.073) completed the top five in MX2. Bulgarian rider Petar Petrov, backed by QMMF and riding a Kawasaki, was sixth fastest with a time of 25:33.970.
Russia’s Aleksandr Tonkov (Yamaha, 25:41.527), compatriot Vsevolod Brylyakov (Kawasaki, 25:43.574), Britain’s Max Anstie (Husqvarna, 25:45.879) and Dutchman Davy Pootjes (KTM, 25:53.999) completed the top-10 for the first night.
The Peninsula
