Jorge Martin, the runner-up of MotoGP 2023, took charge in the initial practice session of the championship’s 2024 season in Qatar. However, it was rookie Pedro Acosta who stole the spotlight. The young Spaniard, who has already achieved success in Moto2 and Moto3, consistently performed well throughout the session and briefly held the lead in the final minutes before slipping to third place. TV cameras captured Acosta’s impressive bike control as he skillfully saved multiple potential crashes, including a particularly daring slide through Turn 1.
The track conditions for the first practice session were likely less dusty than usual due to the MotoGP pre-season test and the World Endurance Championship opener that took place at the same venue in previous weeks. Martin ultimately topped the session with a lap time of 1m52.624s. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was his closest competitor, trailing by just half a tenth of a second and edging out Acosta by a quarter of a tenth.
In a notable change, Marc Marquez, who is no longer racing for Honda, piloted his Gresini-run Ducati to a respectable fourth place. This resulted in an all-Spanish top four, with the riders separated by a mere 0.177s. Brad Binder, representing KTM, followed closely behind, while LCR Honda’s new addition Johann Zarco impressed with a late surge to claim sixth place, making him the highest-ranked Honda RC213V rider.
Enea Bastianini, riding for Ducati, held the lead for a significant portion of the session but ultimately settled for seventh place. Fabio Di Giannantonio, who recently joined VR46 Ducati, and KTM’s Jack Miller completed the top ten. Reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia, also from Ducati, struggled for most of the session but managed to improve his position to finish in tenth place.
Trackhouse, the new team in MotoGP that replaced RNF as Aprilia’s satellite team, showcased a solid performance with Miguel Oliveira finishing in 12th place on the 2024 Aprilia RS-GP and Raul Fernandez securing 14th place on the 2023 RS-GP. The only manufacturer not represented in the top ten was Yamaha, with Alex Rins as their leading rider in 15th place.
Franco Morbidelli of Pramac Ducati, who missed the entire pre-season, made his first appearance on a Ducati MotoGP bike since last year’s Valencia test. He finished in 22nd and last place, 2.1 seconds off the pace.