Qatar GP Practice Results

The Lusail International Circuit is back as the venue for the inaugural event of the MotoGP season. The premier class riders returned to the Qatari circuit, where they rode in the Official Test a few weeks ago, to kick off the 2024 campaign.

Qatar experienced an atypical Friday in which the weather conditions forced the MotoGP sessions to be modified: Practice was replaced by a second Free Practice session that did not count towards qualification for Q2.

These conditions did not allow the riders to improve their morning times, so Jorge Martín (Ducati) remained the fastest rider of the day with a time of 1:52.624. On a very tight timesheet that had 17 riders within a single second, Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) and Pedro Acosta (GasGas) closed the Top 3.

The Top 10 was rounded off by Marc Márquez (Ducati), Brad Binder (KTM), Johann Zarco (Honda), Enea Bastianini (Ducati), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati), Jack Miller (KTM) and Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati).

Saturday action for the MotoGP riders will begin at 11:40pm local time with Practice. Qualifying will be at 12:40pm, while the Sprint race will start at 5pm.

First day completed for the Repsol Honda Team

Both Repsol Honda Team riders started the weekend with the mentality of making progress. Joan Mir and Luca Marini ended the day in sixteenth and seventeenth position, respectively.

Given the rainy conditions of FP2, the pair did not manage to better their morning times, and will work hard to fight for a direct spot in Q2 -and for a good result in the first Sprint race of the year.

Qatar GP Practice Results

Statements

Joan Mir

“It was a pretty unexpected start to the season; in MotoGP anything really can happen. Today is what it was, with the second session being wet there was only so much we could do. In the rain here, the spray with the dust and the sand makes it very difficult to see but it was nice to ride here in the wet for the first time. Let’s see what the weather will do for the next few days. We need to make the most of what will be a busy day tomorrow, doing the time attack and then straight into Qualifying. From the test we have a bit of an idea of what to expect, so let’s do our best.”

Luca Marini

“Today feels like a positive day, the gap felt lower than at the test and while the position has not improved it’s okay because we are focusing on improving the bike. Tomorrow morning, we will see the potential of the soft rear because we did not get to work on it too much and it’s something I think we need to improve with. It will be very intense all day tomorrow because all of the riders are so close, everyone is within a second. We found something today and I think that there is even more to come, it’s a good day when you close the gap during practice.”