The season-opening 2012 Qatar MotoGP will again be held over four nights.
The switch from the traditional three night/day MotoGP race weekend format was made for the 2011 Losail event, in an effort to provide consistent track temperatures and ensure all three classes can prepare in conditions similar to those that they will race in.
The most unusual aspect of the four-night format is that it means the Moto2 and Moto3 (previously 125cc) support classes have their warm-up session on the Saturday, a few hours after qualifying.
The full 2012 Qatar Grand Prix schedule is listed as follows on the official MotoGP website. The event will be the first for the new 1000cc MotoGP bikes (and the CRT category) as well as the inaugural round for the Moto3 World Championship.
Qatar is MotoGP's only night race. All other 2012 rounds will have the usual three-day format. The first Qatar night race was held at Losail in 2008 but, unlike in previous seasons, there will be no MotoGP test session prior to the 2012 round.
Thursday - April 5th
18:00-18:40 - Moto3 Free Practice 1
18:55-19:40 - Moto2 Free Practice 1
19:55-20:40 - MotoGP Free Practice 1
20:55-21:35 - Moto3 Free Practice 2
21:50-22:35 - Moto2 Free Practice 2
Friday - April 6th
18:00-18:45 - MotoGP Free Practice 2
19:00-19:40 - Moto3 Free Practice 3
19:55-20:40 - Moto2 Free Practice 3
20:55-21:40 - MotoGP Free Practice 3
Saturday - April 7th
18:00-18:40 - Moto3 Qualifying
18:55-19:40 - Moto2 Qualifying
19:55-20:55 - MotoGP Qualifying
21:20-21:40 - Moto3 Warm Up
21:55-22:15 - Moto2 Warm Up
Sunday - April 8th
18:00-18:20 - MotoGP Warm Up
19:00 - Moto3 Race
20:20 - Moto2 Race
22:00 - MotoGP Race
source: crash.net
