Jonathan Rea fastest in practice at Losail International Circuit

World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea produced a superb display to top the final practice session in Qatar.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider completed the short FP3 run in 1m 57.493s at the Losail International Circuit to secure a winning margin of 0.857s.

Italian Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing) was the Northern Irishman's nearest challenger, while England's Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) was a further 0.031s behind in third.

Tom Sykes recovered from an engine blowout in FP2 to take fourth for Kawasaki, with Dutchman Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) rounding off the top five.

Chaz Davies ended the session sixth fastest on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati as he bids to beat Sykes to the runner-up spot in the riders' championship.

Barni Ducati's Xavi Fores came seventh, while Jordi Torres, f resh from confirming his MV Agusta switch for 2018, placed his Althea BMW eighth, Raffaele De Rosa (Althea BMW) was ninth and Sylvain Guintoli (Puccetti Kawasaki) completed the top 10.