Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Jorge Martin shattered the lap record in the first qualifying session of the 2024 season in Qatar. Martin surpassed the previous track record, which was set by Pecco Bagnaia during the pre-season test, with his initial attempt in Q2, clocking in at 1m50.789s. While it seemed unlikely that his rivals would be able to match his time, some came close. However, Martin himself was on track to improve his time on his final attempt, but a yellow flag caused by Brad Binder’s crash invalidated his lap.
Further down the grid, Marc Marquez will start in sixth place for his highly anticipated debut with Ducati, while Pedro Acosta secured eighth place in his first-ever qualifying session. Qualifying took place after a revised schedule due to rain on Friday evening. The 45-minute session determined the top 10 spots for Q2, with Marquez and Binder narrowly making the cut.
Fabio Di Giannantonio from VR46 Ducati emerged as Martin’s closest competitor after the initial Q2 runs. However, it was ultimately Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia and Enea Bastianini from Ducati who presented the strongest challenge, both lapping within a tenth of a second. Despite his crash, Binder managed to salvage fourth place, while reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia was left disappointed after a minor mistake on a corner cost him a faster lap, resulting in fifth place.
Marquez closely followed Bastianini on his fastest lap and even seemed to pose a threat for pole position, leading Martin by 0.034s after three sectors. However, Marquez lost momentum and ultimately finished in sixth place. Di Giannantonio slipped to seventh after failing to improve on his second run.
Debutant Acosta secured eighth place, followed by Alex Marquez from Gresini Ducati, Maverick Vinales from Aprilia, and Jack Miller from KTM. Miller had to fight through Q1 after a late crash during pre-qualifying practice. Raul Fernandez from the new Trackhouse Aprilia team also advanced from Q1, but crashed in Q2 and ended up in 12th place, just 0.732s behind the pole position.
Johann Zarco put up a strong performance in Q1 and came close to securing a spot in Q2, closely following Miguel Oliveira from Trackhouse. However, LCR rider Zarco was ultimately beaten by Miller by a mere 0.011s, despite Fernandez having a close call right in front of Miller on the latter’s final lap. Oliveira will join Zarco on the fifth row, along with Marco Bezzecchi from VR46 Ducati.
Italian rider Bezzecchi has struggled to adapt to the 2023 Ducati he has been given this year. Despite running in the slipstream of his good friend Pecco Bagnaia during practice, Bezzecchi missed out on a direct spot in Q2 and was outperformed in Q1, finishing nearly four tenths of a second behind the advancing riders.
Fabio Quartararo was the highest-placed Yamaha rider in 16th place, while his teammate Alex Rins had a disappointing debut for Yamaha, finishing in 20th place. Rins’ Q1 session was seemingly affected by a late technical issue.
Honda’s Joan Mir suffered a crash at the final corner, leaving him in 17th place. His teammate Luca Marini, who secured pole position in Qatar last year as part of VR46 Ducati, became the first MotoGP rider to crash in the 2024 race weekend during practice and finished 21st, trailing Mir by nine tenths of a second.
Franco Morbidelli, the Pramac Ducati rider, found himself in last place after a road bike crash during the pre-season caused him to miss out on valuable preparation time.
Jorge Martin claimed pole position, with Aprilia and KTM also showing strong performances. Marc Marquez finished in sixth place in his debut with Ducati. Don’t miss the Tissot Sprint!