Final spurt of the season at the floodlight spectacle in Qatar
The Qatar Grand Prix offers the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team led by Ayumu Sasaki, Collin Veijer, and the Moto2 pairing of Lukas Tulovic and Darryn Binder a penultimate chance to fight for glory, honour, points, and even a world title.
With 18 impressive race weekends already lying behind the 2023 Motorcycle World Championship, the journey now takes them almost 6,000 kilometers straight from Malaysia to the Arabian peninsula of Qatar on the Persian Gulf. Normally, the 5.38 km circuit, famous for its floodlight races, opens the MotoGP season, but due to extensive construction work, including the construction of new buildings, grandstands, and infrastructure development, the Qatar Airways Grand Prix had been postponed this season.
Now that the work around the circuit just outside the Qatari capital of Doha has been completed, the four riders of the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Team are getting ready for the penultimate battle of the year, where the stakes are high. For Ayumu Sasaki, the Moto3 World Championship title is still within his grasp. Just 13 points currently separate the Japanese rider from world championship leader Jaume Masia, who was beaten by both riders from the German team less than a week ago after rookie Collin Veijer took his first Grand Prix win at the Sepang International Circuit, leading the two title contenders Sasaki and Masia across the line. The trio can also be counted on in Sunday's 16-lap race, in which Sasaki in particular will try to further reduce his gap ahead of the season finale in Valencia just one week later.
Whether the Moto2 duo will ride together again will only be decided on Thursday during Darryn Binder's medical check. In the third free practice session of the Malaysian GP, the South African escaped a horror crash with surprisingly minor injuries, but the one-week break only offers little time for regeneration. After a year characterized by lots of bad luck and injuries, the 25-year-old would like nothing more than to be able to contest in the final two races. Lukas Tulovic is also looking forward to the final spurt of the season with great motivation.
In the Moto2 class, the world championship has already been decided in favor of Pedro Acosta, but the 18-lap race, which starts on Sunday at 16:15 (CET), is still expected to be a spectacle not to be missed. The same applies to the title battle in Moto3 of course, which enters the penultimate round at 15:00 (CET).
Schedule (according to CET)
Friday, 17 November
12:00 - 12:35 Moto3 Practice 1
12:50 - 33:30 Moto2 Practice 1
13:45 - 14:30 MotoGP Free Practice 1
16:15 - 16:50 Moto3 Practice 2
17:05 - 17:45 Moto2 Practice 2
18:00 - 19:00 MotoGP practice
Saturday, 18 November
11:30 - 12:00 Moto3 Practice 3
12:15 - 12:45 Moto2 Practice 3
13:00 - 13:30 MotoGP Free Practice 2
13:40 - 13:55 MotoGP Q1
14:05 - 14:20 MotoGP Q2
15:50 - 16:05 Moto3 Q1
16:15 - 16:30 Moto3 Q2
16:45 - 17:00 Moto2 Q1
17:10 - 17:25 Moto2 Q2
18:00 MotoGP Sprint (11 laps)
Sunday, 19 November
13:40 - 13:50 MotoGP Warm-up
15:00 Moto3 Race (16 laps)
16:15 Moto2 race (18 laps)
18:00 MotoGP race (22 laps)