Francesco Bagnaia shattered the Lusail International Circuit MotoGP lap record to lead a factory Ducati 1-2 on the final day of pre-season testing before the Qatar Grand Prix season opener.
Ducati once again stamped its authority on the field as five of its bikes ended the two-day Qatar test within the top ten. Bagnaia, much as he did after leading proceedings on the opening day, had things under control though.
The new GP24, which features an updated engine and aero package for this season, continued to prove a step forward as the reigning world champion banged in a blistering 1:50.952s. The first ever sub-1:51 lap of the Qatari venue, it is also eight-tenths-of-a-second faster than the lap record held by Luca Marini.
The factory Ducati outfit’s successful final day, which saw Bagnaia and team-mate Enea Bastianini bank over 100 laps between them, was crowned with the latter ending up just 0.120s adrift to complete a 1-2 for the squad.
Aprilia enjoyed an encouraging outing with Aleix Espargaro emerging as best of the rest behind the Bologna Bullets in third, the Spaniard just over three-tenths from the top. He was backed up by fellow RS-GP riders Raul Fernandez and Maverick Vinales, who ended the day classified fifth and sixth.
Marc Marquez was fourth fastest for Gresini on his year-old Ducati, the six-time premier class world champion getting ever more comfortable with his new steed. He did suffer his first crash as a Ducati pilot though, going down with just 20 minutes of the day remaining.
Vice-champion of 2023 Jorge Martin was seventh for Pramac, while last year’s Qatar Grand Prix victor Fabio Di Gianantonio looked strong in eighth overall for VR46. Brad Binder was KTM’s fastest representative in ninth, albeit over six-tenths from the ultimate pace, while Marco Bezzecchi completed the top ten on the sister VR46-run Ducati.
Yamaha meanwhile looked to have made a decent step in terms of its race performance, though its one-lap pace still left much to be desired. Fabio Quartararo ended the test down in 14th, just over a second from Bagnaia’s benchmark, while new team-mate Alex Rins was 16th just a couple of tenths further back.
GasGas Tech 3 duo Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez picked up the prize for the most productive team-mates across the grid, the pair notching up 155 tours of the Lusail circuit between them. Acosta ended up 15th in the times, while Fernandez was 21st.
Honda remained busy across the two-day outing as it played around with its updated RC213V. LCR’s Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami led the way for the marque, the former lapping 1.2 seconds away from the leading Ducatis. Factory men Joan Mir and Luca Marini slotted in just behind their satellite team-mates, the brand focussing on long runs ahead of next month’s opening event.
