The grid were back in action at Qatar this weekend – after months of development, days of testing and hours of speculation, it was time to see how the riders would actual perform!
Our reigning champion was untouchable today in Qatar. Pecco Bagnaia and his mighty Ducati machine cruised to a seemingly easy victory after hitting the front very early on. He flew off the starting grid to lead after only a few corners. Once he hit the front, he dictated the pace for the rest of the field and never looked back.
Despite the dominant win for Bagnaia, the race wasn’t without it’s drama. Mere moments before the lights went out, Raul Fernandez waved to the track officials, signalling an issue with his bike. The start was then delayed further as Fernandez, who had got his bike restarted, argued with the officials about his need to start the race from pitlane. His day then went from bad to worse as his Trackhouse machine faced technical issues and he was forced to retire from the race; not an ideal start to this brand new team’s MotoGP career.
Brad Binder and his Red Bull KTM put on a fabulous show for the crowd at the Lusail International Circuit. In typical Binder fashion, he had a great start from 4th on the grid and enjoyed a race-long battle with Jorge Martin as the pair jostled for 2nd. It was Binder who eventually came out on top, enjoying his second 2nd place of the weekend, after coming home in the same position at Saturday’s sprint race.
Whilst Martin may have hoped for more than 3rd after his Sprint race win, he has already enjoyed a much stronger start to his title campaign than he did in 2023. Many will be hoping he can keep up this momentum for the rest of the season.
For many MotoGP fans, their attentions were solely on Marc Marquez as he took to the track for the first time in Gresini blue. He had a brilliant race and will undoubtedly be happy to come home in 4th. He enjoy lots of battles with, none more so than a fantastic fight with our only rookie on the grid, Pedro Acosta.
Acosta finished the day in 9th but that result doesn’t do justice to his strong race. The rookie has been impressing many up and down the paddock and he enjoyed a strong race, moving up from 8th on the starting grid to 4th. He did look set for a podium finish but faded later in the race – it seems he went out too hot in the early stages and was left battling with serious tire wear. With just 8 laps remaining, he slipped back down the grid to end the day just inside the top 10.
It was a difficult day for Jack Miller who crashed at turn 2 on the 2nd lap – whilst he was able to rejoin the pack, picking the bike up surprisingly quickly, he came home in 21st and last today. There have been lots of discussions about future the line up for the Red Bull KTM team so with his team mate on the podium and Acosta showing his ability so early in his career, it wasn’t an ideal day for the Aussie rider.
Full Results:
| 1st | Pecco Bagnaia | Ducati |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM |
| 3rd | Jorge Martin | Prima Pramac |
| 4th | Marc Marquez | Gresini |
| 5th | Enea Bastianini | Ducati |
| 6th | Alex Marquez | Gresini |
| 7th | Fabio Di Giannantonio | VR46 Racing Team |
| 8th | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia |
| 9th | Pedro Acosta | GASGAS Tech3 |
| 10th | Maverick Vinales | Aprilia |
| 11th | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha |
| 12th | Johann Zarco | LCR Honda |
| 13th | Joan Mir | Repsol Honda |
| 14th | Marco Bezzecchi | VR46 Racing Team |
| 15th | Miguel Oliveira | Trackhouse |
| 16th | Alex Rins | Yamaha |
| 17th | Augusto Fernandez | GASGASG Tech3 |
| 18th | Franco Morbidelli | Prima Pramac |
| 19th | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda |
| 20th | Luca Marini | Repsol Honda |
| 21st | Jack Miller | Red Bull KTM |
DNF: Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse)
Championship Standings:
| 1st | Pecco Bagnaia | 31 points |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Brad Binder | 29 points |
| 3rd | Jorge Martin | 28 points |
| 4th | Marc Marquez | 18 points |
| 5th | Enea Bastianini | 15 points |
Feature Image Credit: MotoGP Website