The Qatari night brings the overseas tour to a close

Friday, November 6th

The Moto3 day gets underway as scheduled, with the first free practice sessions taking place in the late morning. For Jesus Rios, this session is all about adapting to the Qatari circuit, which he is tackling for the first time in his career. The Spanish rider uses the opening laps to get familiar with both the bike and the track, where grip levels are rather limited in the early stages. Rios completes 13 laps, progressively improving his pace and setting his fastest time right as the chequered flag comes out. However, the lap is subsequently cancelled due to a yellow flag. Kiattisak Singhapong makes an excellent return to the track, showing promising pace from the very first laps and confirming the progress made over the last few races. The Thai rider completes 14 laps, setting his best time on lap 12 and briefly moving up to third position. He eventually drops to seventh, still a very positive result for him in this first session of the Lusail weekend.

During his first flying lap in Practice, Jesus Rios initially manages to enter the positions guaranteeing direct access to Q2, before being overtaken by his teammate. On the following lap, Kiattisak Singhapong, pushing to complete a particularly fast lap, suffers a heavy crash at Turn 9, which heavily affects the remainder of his session. Initially in pain, the Thai rider only manages to return to the track in the closing stages, completing just one flying lap. This attempt allows him to improve his time, but not enough to reach the positions required for direct access to Q2. Rios, meanwhile, completes Practice after making two pit stops, using each run to progressively lower his lap times. His most significant improvement comes in the final run, with his fastest lap recorded right as the chequered flag comes out. Despite his progress, the Spanish rider is still a few tenths of a second short of securing direct access to Q2.

Saturday, November 7th

Free Practice 2 gives teams and riders the opportunity to focus on race pace, aiming to complete as many consecutive laps as possible and fine-tune their bike settings ahead of qualifying. Jesus Rios completes an initial run of four laps before returning to the pits and heading back out to complete another eight consecutive laps. The Spanish rider finds some promising and consistent pace, particularly in the closing stages of the session, showing clear improvements in his rhythm. Kiattisak Singhapong, meanwhile, focuses on his long-run work during the first part of the session, completing six consecutive laps at a steady pace. During his second run, however, the Thai rider suffers a crash while trying to increase his speed. Track conditions are still far from ideal, as sand and dirt blown onto the circuit by the wind overnight make it more difficult to find the right level of grip.

Q1 takes place in considerably more favourable conditions than those experienced in the morning. Thanks to the previous sessions and the evening temperatures, the track allows riders to significantly improve their lap times. Both Jesus Rios and Kiattisak Singhapong show competitive pace straight away, setting times in their first runs almost two seconds faster than those recorded during the morning sessions. During the second run, Singhapong is unable to improve his time. The Thai rider is held up by traffic caused by two rivals, preventing him from making the most of his only and final attempt before the chequered flag. Rios, on the other hand, manages to take another step forward on his final lap, lowering his best time by more than half a second. The Spanish rider puts together a particularly effective lap, improving his benchmark in all four sectors of the circuit. Despite this excellent progress, he misses out on Q2 by just two tenths of a second.

Sunday, November 8th

The Qatari sunset provides the backdrop for the Moto3 race on Sunday in Lusail, with the Snipers riders ready to make the most of their opportunities in a race that sees both of them starting from the grid with positions to recover. Both riders make a positive start. As the lights go out, Jesus Rios gets off the line brilliantly and completes an effective overtake, gaining three positions in the opening stages of the race. Kiattisak Singhapong also makes a good start and immediately finds himself involved in an intense battle, with constant overtaking and counter-overtaking. The Thai rider manages to move up four places from his starting position.

In the middle phase of the Grand Prix, Rios joins the battle for the points, maintaining a consistent pace and responding effectively to his rivals' attacks. The Spanish rider completes several overtakes, gradually climbing the standings until he reaches the points-scoring positions. Further back, but equally consistent, Singhapong continues working on his pace, trying to close the gap to the group fighting for points.

As the laps go by, the battles become even more intense, with Rios once again caught up in a close fight that lasts all the way to the chequered flag, featuring constant changes of position. The Spanish rider eventually finishes the Grand Prix in 17th place, gaining three positions compared to his starting position.
The closing stages prove more challenging for Singhapong, who is forced to serve a Long Lap Penalty with just a few laps remaining for exceeding track limits. The Thai rider loses several positions but, after serving the penalty, manages to regain his rhythm and recover the places he had lost, crossing the finish line in 19th position, two places behind his teammate. Despite the time lost serving the penalty, it is still a recovery that sees him gain positions compared to the start.

Comments

Jesus Rios after the race: “During qualifying, I had found a good bike setup. I tried a few changes for the race, which slightly altered the feeling on corner exit, but overall it was a hard-fought race. Now I’m really looking forward to getting back on track in Portimao!”

Kiattisak Singhapong affected by crashes during practice:
“It wasn’t the weekend I was hoping for. I had two heavy crashes during practice, which left me with knee pain and prevented me from racing at 100%. Despite this, I tried to push through the pain and give my best. I’ll keep working even harder to come back stronger at the next race.”