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MotoGP Qatar GP: Bagnaia wins thriller, Marquez fourth to cap off Ducati debut

Sprint winner Jorge Martin got the holeshot from pole position on his Pramac Ducati, but Bagnaia got an even better launch from fifth on the grid to slot into second position.

Eager not to allow Martin to run away at the front, Bagnaia wasted little time in making a move on his 2023 title rival, throwing his factory Ducati up the inside into Turn 4 to snatch the lead straight away.

While Martin kept the pressure up on Bagnaia early on, he soon got embroiled in a long battle with the KTM of Brad Binder, giving the Italian rider some breathing space to manage his tyres.

By lap 11, the two-time champion was over a second clear of the chasing pack and, although Binder was able to bring the gap down to under a second, Bagnaia was able to extend his advantage again en route to his 19th MotoGP victory.

Binder and Martin engaged in a long scrap for the best-of-the-rest, trading positions at a number of occasions and also bringing Marquez and Pedro Acosta into play in the battle for second.

In the end, it was Binder who emerged on top in that battle, the KTM rider sealing the position when Martin ran wide at Turn 1 on lap 11.

Martin ended up 0.5s down at the finish after picking up his ace on the penultimate lap of the race.

Marquez enjoyed a similarly close battle with Tech3 GasGas’s Acosta, with the KTM-backed rookie pulling off a stunning move at Turn 1 at the start of lap 12 to move into fourth position.

But Acosta ran wide through Losail’s tight sequence of corners just two laps later, allowing Marquez back through into fourth - a position the eight-time world champion carried to the finish to round off a promising maiden weekend on the Gresini Ducati.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Acosta’s pace dropped significantly in the final quarter of the race, with both Gresini’s Alex Marquez and factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini demoting him into Turn 1 on lap 16.

The younger Marquez and Bastianini then engaged in a battle of their own, with the latter taking the honours on a day his team-mate Bagnaia was untouchable at the front.

Acosta eventually finished ninth on his grand prix debut, having dropped behind both VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Aleix Espargaro in the latter stages of the race.

Espargaro’s chances of a victory at the Losail International Circuit ended with a frustrating start from second on the grid which left him down in ninth at the end of the opening lap.

He could only recover to eighth, finishing 11s off the lead on the top Aprilia. His team-mate Maverick Vinales rounded out the top 10 behind rookie Acosta.

Fabio Quartararo salvaged an 11th place result on the factory Yamaha following a squabble with the Honda of Joan Mir, who eventually was classified 13th behind new LCR signing Johann Zarco.

Marco Bezzecchi was classified 14th on the VR46 Ducati, while Trackhouse’s Miguel Oliveira was able to recover from a long-lap penalty - a result of a clash with Espargaro in last year’s Valencia GP - to claim the final point in 15th.

Jack Miller was the last of the classified finishers in 21st after suffering a crash at Turn 1 on lap 2.

The race was delayed when Raul Fernandez encountered an unspecified mechanical issue on his Trackhouse Aprilia at the original start.

After a long discussion with the track officials, Fernandez wheeled his 2023-spec RS-GP to the pitlane, with the remaining riders completing another formation lap before the race could get going properly - with one lap reduced from the total count.

Fernandez was able to take the restart, but pulled out on lap 18.

MotoGP Qatar GP results

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 21

-

      25
2 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 21

+1.329

1.329

1.329     20
3 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 21

+1.933

1.933

0.604     16
4 Spain M. Marquez Gresini Racing 93 Ducati 21

+3.429

3.429

1.496     13
5 Italy E. Bastianini Ducati Team 23 Ducati 21

+5.153

5.153

1.724     11
6 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 21

+6.791

6.791

1.638     10
7 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46 49 Ducati 21

+9.161

9.161

2.370     9
8 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 21

+11.242

11.242

2.081     8
9 Spain P. Acosta Tech 3 31 KTM 21

+11.595

11.595

0.353     7
10 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 21

+13.197

13.197

1.602     6
11 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 21

+17.701

17.701

4.504     5
12 France J. Zarco Team LCR 5 Honda 21

+18.075

18.075

0.374     4
13 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 21

+18.437

18.437

0.362     3
14 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 21

+19.194

19.194

0.757     2
15 Portugal M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team 88 Aprilia 21

+20.717

20.717

1.523     1
16 Spain A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing 42 Yamaha 21

+24.093

24.093

3.376      
17 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 21

+24.106

24.106

0.013      
18 Italy F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing 21 Ducati 21

+24.641

24.641

0.535      
19 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 21

+25.556

25.556

0.915      
20 Italy L. Marini Repsol Honda Team 10 Honda 21

+42.422

42.422

16.866      
21 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 21

+42.761

42.761

0.339      
dnf Spain R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team 25 Aprilia 17

 

    Retirement  
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