Ducati's Jack Miller may have grabbed the headlines with a new MotoGP outright lap record at Qatar but it was Fabio Quartararo who really set the pace.

Miller used a soft rear Michelin to set his 1’53.183 and Monster Yamaha's Quartararo was not far behind on a 1’53.263 but it was the Frenchman's average pace that was most impressive.

Over the last two days in the desert, Quartaro's average laptime was quickest as he set a 1'54.916 to head a Yamaha top-three clean sweep. Team-mate Maverick Vinales was 0.008s behind on  1'54.924 with Petronas' rider Franmky Morbidelli in third with a 1'55.051.

But the pace didn't stop Quartararo being concerned by the top speed of the Ducatis. Johann Zarco's average was 218mph on the long Losail straight, while the best of the Yamahas - Valentino Rossi - was seven miles per hour slower.

"Here the straight is over one kilometre, so we are a bit worried," said Quartararo, speaking at the track.

"We can’t put any more horsepower in the engine so we need to fight. If we start to think about the power of Ducati, we already starting to lose some focus, so of course it is not the best."

In terms of laptimes, the best Ducati was Pecco Bagnaia in seventh as he trailed Aleix Espargaro, Joan Mir and Pol Espargaro. The youngster's average was 1'55.162, 0.249s off the pace. But he says he would be happy to race right now.

Zarco, Miller and Alex Rins rounded out the top ten average times, kindly provided by Chris Pike and his Excel wizardry.