Qatar MotoGP: Vinales on pole, Lorenzo and Rossi out in Q1

Vinales continued his strong form from pre-season testing at the Losail circuit to beat Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso by 0.198 seconds in Q2, while Marc Marquez made it three different marques on the front row with a time just a thousandth slower than Dovizioso.

In the opening runs, it was Vinales that laid down the early benchmark with a 1m53.844s effort, with Takaaki Nakagami's LCR Honda and rookie Fabio Quartararo of the new Petronas Yamaha team making up an unusual looking top three at the midpoint of the 15-minute pole shootout.

Vinales, seemingly uninterested in getting a tow from any of his rivals, then bettered his benchmark to a 1m53.546s on his second run. That time was good enough for his seventh MotoGP pole and his second in three years in Qatar.

Jack Miller briefly moved up to second with a 1m53.809s, only to crash at Turn 2 moments later, and the Australian was eclipsed by Ducati stablemate Dovizioso by 0.065s.

With the help of a tow from another Ducati rider, Danilo Petrucci, Marquez then vaulted up to third at the chequered flag, demoting Miller to fourth.

Quartararo ended up as top rookie by a comfortable margin in fifth, exactly four tenths slower than Vinales, followed by Q1 pacesetter Cal Crutchlow and Petrucci.

Crutchlow had led Nakagami in an LCR Honda one-two in Q1 as they eclipsed their past champion opposition.

Lorenzo's chances of escaping the opening part of qualifying were wrecked by a crash at Turn 2 with three minutes left on the clock, meaning he will start 15th on his Honda debut.

The Honda newcomer had been second behind Crutchlow after the opening runs, and his fall opened the door for Nakagami to grab the other Q2 transfer spot.

With no time to get back on track on his spare bike, Lorenzo was further demoted after the chequered flag by Francesco Bagnaia and Rossi.

Yamaha rider Rossi never really looked like threatening the top two for much of the session, but in the end he was only 0.106s shy of Nakagami's time.

Nakagami went on to take ninth in Q2, just behind Franco Morbidelli on the second of the Petronas machines.

Suzuki pair Alex Rins and Joan Mir and Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro completed the Q2 result.

Behind Lorenzo, Bagnaia and Rossi, Pol Espargaro will open up row six on the best of the KTMs on Sunday ahead of Tech3's Miguel Oliveira and Tito Rabat - another Q1 crasher.

Johann Zarco condemned himself to 21st with a Turn 2 crash on the second KTM, and will start two places behind Aprilia new recruit Andrea Iannone on row seven.

Starting grid