Jaume Masia drew Moto3 first blood with the fastest overall time of the three-day Qatar test from KTM team-mate and stand-out rookie, Pedro Acosta.

Masia’s 2’04.263 time, set on his 12th lap of the evening session, sat him three-tenths clear of Acosta, while Dennis Foggia and another equally impressive newbie, Izan Guevara were left to defend the top-four spoils from late charges by Gabriel Rodrigo and John McPhee.

The final lightweight action began with Darryn Binder then Foggia setting the early pace - a 2’05.557 - from Rodrigo, Xavier Artigas and McPhee. The Leopard rider having topped the first session of the day before sitting out of the second, while both Petronas men had chosen not to utilise the opening hour.

McPhee soon joined the fun, and the top-three, on his fourth revolution, bettering his teammate by just under a tenth to claim second with 50 minutes remaining. Working in tandem, the SRT riders continued to fine-tune their partnership as they circulated together on track with consistent high 2’05 pace while Junior World Championship promotees Guevara and Artigas maintained their so far promising performance well inside the top-10.

The 25-minute mark saw the pace increase across the board. Foggia reducing his benchmark by almost a second while the KTM pairing of Acosta and Masia locked out the top-three. Kaito Toba and Artigas advanced into fourth and fifth before Ayumu Sasaki demoted the rookie on his next attempt to sit just ahead of McPhee. Romano Fenati was the next rider on the move, this time to fourth before the pack settled into a comfortable mid-session rhythm.

The closing 20 minutes saw the KTM’s back out in anger as Masia advanced the times yet again, this time by half a second, his teammate Acosta slotting in neatly behind, as Guevara claimed fourth, four-tenths back. McPhee returned to the top-five with a 2’04.887 effort on his 14th lap as Fenati and Niccolò Antonelli sat best of the rest as the fastest riders still running 2’05 pace.

Eight minutes to go saw the entire field return to the pits for fresh tyres ahead of the final push, with the usual en-masse outing as the clock ticked down. The Ajo pairing were once again looking to take charge as they came out ahead of the pursuing pack, again with Guevara for company but as the final minute began, the times remained unchanged.

As the flag dropped, the timing screens lit up but the promise quickly faded. Rodrigo, the only rider to make his presence felt, settled for fifth in the final standings, narrowly ahead of McPhee and Jeremy Alcoba, while Fenati, Filip Salac and Binder closed the top-10.

Another impressive debut saw Artigas 11th from Jason Dupasquier, Antonelli, Toba and Sergio Garcia with Sasaki, Stefano Nepa, Andrea Migno, Ryusei Yamanaka and Carlos Tatay completing Moto3’s 20 fastest riders.