Marc Marquez led the way under the Qatar afternoon sun in MotoGP‘s FP1, while title contender Jorge Martin showed strong early form on his return from injury.
Under the Doha sun, 18 MotoGP riders took to the track for the opening practice session of the Qatar GP. Benefiting from cooler conditions than usual following the event’s move to November, this FP1 proved crucial for title contenders and riders returning from injury alike.
Making his first appearance since FP2 in Sepang, Jorge Martin proved surprisingly competitive. Confirmed to be in better physical shape by Aprilia Racing manager Paolo Bonora despite still struggling under heavy braking, the Spaniard ran inside the top three for much of the session, staying within six tenths of the pace at times, before finishing fifth.
However, his main rival for the championship, Marc Marquez, dominated the session with a benchmark 1:52.278. He led fellow title contender Marco Bezzecchi, who challenged the Ducati rider for top spot throughout, while Fabio Di Giannantonio ended the session in third.
Pedro Acosta slotted into fourth, despite a late mechanical issue that prevented him from taking part in the post-session practice starts.
Francesco Bagnaia took sixth ahead of Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez, back on track after missing the Malaysian GP with a finger injury. Luca Marini ended P8, Franco Morbidelli P9, and Johann Zarco rounded out the top 10.
Ai Ogura finished 11th ahead of the returning Fermin Aldeguer, who admitted to struggling to find his rhythm after his injury layoff.
Brad Binder placed 13th despite an early crash at Turn 7, leading temporary substitute Iker Lecuona in 14th and Maverick Vinales in 15th. The session was also marked by a crash for Jake Dixon; replacing the recovering Joan Mir, the WorldSBK rider faced a tough transition to MotoGP machinery, finishing at the bottom of the timesheets.
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