Change of schedule for 2018 Qatar MotoGP

Track action at next year's season-opening Qatar MotoGP will begin on Friday, rather than Thursday.

In the past the unique night-race schedule has seen one practice session for MotoGP, plus two each for Moto2 and Moto3, on the Thursday. Friday has then featured two MotoGP practice sessions, sandwiching one session each for Moto2 and Moto3.

But for 2018, the provisional schedule follows the same format as a normal daytime event: Two sessions for all classes on Friday, Free Practice 3 and 4 (for MotoGP) plus qualifying on the Saturday, then warm-up and the races on Sunday.

The races will now be held two hours earlier in the evening, meaning only MotoGP is likely to take place in full darkness, allowing more room should there be a repeat of last year's rain delays.

Friday, March 16:

13:00-13:40 Moto3 Free Practice 1

13:55-14:40 Moto2 Free Practice 1

14:55-15:40 MotoGP Free Practice 1

17:10-17:50 Moto3 Free Practice 2

18:05-18:50 Moto2 Free Practice 2

19:05-19:50 MotoGP Free Practice 2

Saturday, March 17:

13:00-13:40 Moto3 Free Practice 3

13:55-14:40 Moto2 Free Practice 3

14:55-15:40 MotoGP Free Practice 3

16:35-17:15 Moto3 Qualifying

17:30-18:15 Moto2 Qualifying

18:30-19:00 MotoGP Free Practice 4

19:10-19:25 MotoGP Qualifying 1

19:35-19:50 MotoGP Qualifying 2

Sunday, March 18:

13:40-14:00 Moto3 Warm Up

14:10-14:30 Moto2 Warm Up

14:40-15:00 MotoGP Warm Up

16:00 Moto3 Race (18 laps)

17:20 Moto2 Race (20 laps)

19:00 MotoGP Race (22 laps)