Ducati’s Marc Marquez provided the perfect response to his mistake in Austin by topping the opening MotoGP practice session in Qatar.
Marquez was the fastest rider all session, with his final lap time of 1:52.288 the quickest of the first practice of the weekend.
It was the first session of the season for reigning World Champion Jorge Martin, who decided to follow Marquez around the circuit for his opening laps on the RS-GP.
Marquez set the benchmark ahead of rivals Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia in the opening stages of FP1 despite his previous struggles at the Losail circuit, which he would hold until the end of the session.
The opening practice was forced to a premature end as a crash from Jack Miller brought out the yellow flags for those on flying laps, ensuring Marquez finished practice half a second faster than Fabio Di Giannantonio in second.
Bagnaia was third, 0.583s behind his team-mate, with Alex Marquez finishing the session in fourth.
Maverick Vinales was a surprise fifth, ahead of Franco Morbidelli in sixth, as Fermin Aldeguer took seventh in his first Qatar practice as a MotoGP rider.
Joan Mir took eighth for Honda as Marco Bezzecchi took ninth as the top Aprilia, while Pedro Acosta rounded out the top ten, just over a second off Marquez’s fastest time.
Fabio Quartararo ended the session in 11th ahead of Luca Marini in 12th and team-mate Alex Rins in 13th, with Johann Zarco 14th after suffering a mechanical issue early in the session.
Ai Ogura took 15th as Augusto Fernandez continued his stand-in duties for Miguel Oliveira in 16th.
Brad Binder continued to struggle aboard the current-spec KTM in 17th, as Enea Bastianini finished FP1 down in 18th.
Miller was 19th following his late crash, as World Champion Martin was 20th on his return, 1.824s off Marquez’s time.
Raul Fernandez ended practice 21st, just 0.003s behind Martin’s time, as Somkiat Chantra concluded the standings in 22nd.
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