Written by Owen Bradley
Credit: Visit Qatar and MotoGP
55k fans gathered in Qatar to watch the penultimate round of the MotoGP 2023 Championship. Going into the race, Martin was just 7 points adrift from Francesco Bagnaia.
1st Fabio Di Giannantonio
2nd Francesco Bagnaia
3rd Luca Marini
4th Maverick Vinales
5th Brad Binder
6th Alex Marquez
7th Fabio Quartararo
8th Enea Bastianini
9th Jack Miller
10th Jorge Martin
11th Marc Marquez
12th Johann Zarco
13th Marco Bezzecchi
14th Joan Mir
15th Augusto Fernandez
16th Franco Morbidelli
17th Raul Fernandez
18th Pol Espargaro
19th Takaaki Nakagami
DNF Aleix Espargaro
DNF Iker Lecuona
Grand Prix
Credit: Noushad Thekkayil
The 19th MotoGP race of 2023 got underway with a literal bang, as Jorge Martin struggled and squirmed to get away from his grid slot, potentially even damaging his suspension. Francesco Bagnaia managed to take a dominant lead which seemingly set the pace of the race, as title rival Martin was slipping further and further back through the field.
Behind, once the race had settled in, it became clear that overtaking was going to be exceptionally difficult to do, at least a clean pass. It was a bitter and frustrating race for Jorge Martin, who saw his entire championship hopes, slowly get the life drained from it. After the race, Martin stormed back into his pit box, evidently angry. As the other riders began overtaking Martin, the championship was slowly and surely finding it's way into Francesco Bagnaia's hands.
Despite coming into the Grand Prix separated by just 7-points, after the abysmal performance that was likely down to a mechanical issue, Martin is now 21 points adrift heading into the final Sprint race and final Grand Prix. Martin might be a sprint supremacist, but Bagnaia always seems to fight back in the Grand Prix.
Credit: MotoGP on Social Media
Luca Marini, the polesitter here in Qatar, managed to achieve a decent P3 podium finish, but it was the other Italian and the other Ducati of Fabio Di Giannantonio who would claim his maiden MotoGP win in extraordinary fashion, and hopefully a ride will which secure his future in MotoGP, perhaps with another team like VR46.
Overall, a disappointing race in terms of action, but a crucial race in this championship battle.
What did you think of the Qatar GP? let us know in the comments below!
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