Although the Spaniard ended the evening in sixth place, he continued to feel the effects of an accident which left him out of the final day of pre-season testing.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t in the best shape tonight because, as the laps went by, there was more and more pressure on the fingers I broke at Jerez,” explained the GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider.
“As usual here in Qatar, the track conditions were not ideal on the first night and the first few laps in particular were a struggle, but overall it hasn’t been a bad start for us.
“Hopefully the track will improve tomorrow and the changes we have planned for the bike help us make that step forward in quality that will get us closer to the front and help us to improve on last year’s performance here.”
Further down the field, Bautista’s new teammate continued to adapt to the team’s CRT bike, as Australian Bryan Staring finished in 22nd position overall.