Francesco Bagnaia broke the MotoGP lap record at the Lusail International Circuit, leading a factory Ducati 1-2 on the final day of pre-season testing before the Qatar Grand Prix season opener.
Ducati once again showed its dominance as five of its bikes finished in the top ten at the two-day Qatar test. Bagnaia, who had already set the pace on the first day, maintained control throughout.
The new GP24, with its updated engine and aero package for this season, continued to demonstrate improvements as the reigning world champion set a blistering time of 1:50.952s. This lap, the first ever sub-1:51 at the Qatari venue, was also eight-tenths-of-a-second faster than the previous lap record held by Luca Marini.
The factory Ducati team had a successful final day, with Bagnaia and teammate Enea Bastianini completing over 100 laps between them. Bastianini finished just 0.120s behind Bagnaia, securing a 1-2 finish for the team.
Aprilia had a positive outing, with Aleix Espargaro finishing third, just over three-tenths behind the leading Ducatis. Raul Fernandez and Maverick Vinales also performed well, finishing fifth and sixth respectively on their RS-GP bikes.
Marc Marquez, riding for Gresini on a year-old Ducati, was fourth fastest. The six-time premier class world champion is becoming more comfortable with his new bike, although he did experience his first crash as a Ducati rider towards the end of the day.
Jorge Martin, the 2023 vice-champion, finished seventh for Pramac, while last year’s Qatar Grand Prix winner Fabio Di Gianantonio showed strength with an eighth-place finish for VR46. Brad Binder was the fastest KTM rider in ninth place, although he was over six-tenths off the pace. Marco Bezzecchi completed the top ten on the sister VR46-run Ducati.
Yamaha showed signs of improvement in terms of race performance, but their one-lap pace still left room for improvement. Fabio Quartararo finished 14th, over a second behind Bagnaia’s fastest time, while new teammate Alex Rins was 16th, just a couple of tenths further back.
The GasGas Tech 3 duo of Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez were the most productive teammates, completing a total of 155 laps of the Lusail circuit. Acosta finished 15th in the times, while Fernandez was 21st.
Honda remained busy throughout the two-day test as they experimented with their updated RC213V. LCR’s Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami led the way for the Honda team, with Zarco lapping 1.2 seconds off the pace set by the leading Ducatis. Factory riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini were just behind their satellite teammates, focusing on long runs in preparation for next month’s opening event.
According to the Source motorsportweek.com