Written by Owen Bradley
Credit: Getty Images
A thrilling season of MotoGP ahead, the season opener in Qatar for the 2024 MotoGP season, Starting Grid, Sprint Race and Qualifying Roundup.
Starting Grid
1st - Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati - 1:50.789
2nd - Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing - 1:50.872
3rd - Enea Bastianini, Factory Ducati - 1:50.875
4th - Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory - 1:50.913
5th - Francesco Bagnaia, Factory Ducati - 1:50.928
6th - Marc Marquez, Gresini Ducati - 1:50.961
7th - Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Ducati - 1:51.019
8th - Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GasGas Tech3 - 1:51.130
9th - Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati - 1:51.266
10th - Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing - 1:51.306
11th - Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory - 1:51.340
12th - Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia - 1:51.521
13th - Johann Zarco, LCR Honda - 1:51.537
14th - Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Aprilia - 1:51.565
15th - Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Ducati - 1:51.864
16th - Fabio Quartaro, Monster Energy Yamaha - 1:51.918
17th - Joan Mir, Repsol Honda - 1:52.026
18th - Augusto Fernandez, Red Bull GasGas Tech3 - 1:52.204
19th - Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda - 1:52.228
20th - Alex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha - 1:52.327
21st - Luca Marini, Repsol Honda - 1:52.952
22nd - Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Ducati - 1:52.980
Sprint Race
Credit: Steve Wobser
1st Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati
2nd Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM
3rd Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia
4th Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati
5th Marc Marquez, Gresini Ducati
6th Enea Bastianini, Ducati
7th Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati
8th Pedro Acosta, GasGas KTM
9th Maverick Vinales, Aprilia
10th Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM
11th Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Ducati
12th Fabio Quartararo, Monster Yamaha
13th Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Aprilia
14th Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Aprilia
15th Joan Mir, Repsol Honda
16th Johann Zarco, LCR Honda
17th Alex Rins, Monster Yamaha
18th Augusto Fernandez, GasGas KTM
19th Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda
20th Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Ducati
21st Luca Marini, Repsol Honda
DNF Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Ducati
The first piece of racing action for MotoGP, Jorge Martin dominated the sprint, with Binder running close behind him but unable to make any meaningful moves or inroads on the leading Ducati. Aleix Espargaro made a late race charge, overtaking Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia for P3. Bagnaia seemed to struggle for grip throughout the race, ending up in P4. Marc Marquez ended his first race on a Ducati, with a P5 finish with only a couple of mistakes, making progress every other lap after being overtaken by a few at the start of the race.
A difficult race for them all, as tyres started to come into it towards the final couple of laps. We're set up for an absolutely incredible and almost unpredictable Grand Prix Sunday.
Qualifying
Credit: Steve Wobser
Q1 - New team, Trackhouse Aprilia Racing immediately looked impressive, with Raul Fernandez making it through Q1 and setting a very impressive lap time in the very low 1:51.000's with the rest of the field around half a second further behind. Red Bull KTM's Jack Miller was only a tenth behind, as the pair of them made it through to Q2.
VR46 Ducati's Marco Bezzecchi, who had started his 2023 season so strong, seems to be struggling to adapt to the new season, he is the only Ducati to not make it out of Q1, and was half a second away from the two leaders who went through to Q2. Johann Zarco, now racing for Honda, seemed to adapt very quickly to the LCR Honda, after departing the Pramac Ducati team at the end of 2023. Factory Repsol Honda seem to be struggling much worse than anybody else on the grid however, with Marini on the back row of the grid and Joan Mir crashing out of his final run, now starting from P17.
Trackhouse Aprilia seem to be relatively strong, with Fernandez making it into Q2 and Miguel Oliveira half a second behind, but in P14 for the race with a strong chance for points.
Q2 - The thing we have been waiting for, the top riders going to battle to decide who will start from pole position for both the Sprint Race and the Grand Prix on Sunday. Marc Marquez on a Ducati and many riders in contention, a competitive Qualifying session in the making, for a highly competitive weekend.
Jorge Martin took Pole position with a record-breaking lap time, a 1:50.789, a monumentally quick lap. The riders in Q2 were over an entire second faster than they were back in the Qatar GP 2023 which was only four months ago.
Aleix Espargaro would follow Martin, only a tenth down and on the Aprilia. Aprilia look very strong at the Qatar circuit, although the cooling temperatures with the evening/night races coming up could potentially change that.
Enea Bastianini was only 0.003 away from Espargaro, and ended up sitting in P3, a great result for the Italian who had a tough season in 2023, and will be hoping to fight off the other satelite Ducati riders to maintain that second Factory Ducati seat. Brad Binder ended up P4 for KTM, with the reigning champion just behind him. Francesco Bagnaia starts from P5 after a difficult qualifying. Marc Marquez will start his debut race as a Ducati rider, from P6, and almost took pole position but made a small mistake on his final run, riding too low to the ground and nearly crashing.