MotoGP Qatar: Martin into Q2 despite fracture, Marquez faces headwind

• Di Giannantonio laps in 1:50.406 in practice, beating Marc Marquez’s previous benchmark
• Martin finishes seventh and goes straight into Q2, Pedro Acosta has to go through Q1 in 14th
• Marquez will be world champion in Qatar if he scores 30 points more than Martin and 8 more than Bezzecchi

Marc Marquez’s first match point will be no walk in the park. The Ducati factory rider was still on top in the first free practice session in the afternoon, but under the floodlights in the evening he had to give way to Fabio Di Giannantonio. The VR46 rider set the fastest lap ever ridden at the Lusail International Circuit. The most important news of the day, however, came from the Aprilia garage. Jorge Martin, who had to retire after just a few laps in Sepang a week ago, is fast again. Because of Yamaha’s boycott, only 18 riders are on the grid for the MotoGP weekend in Qatar.

Who was fastest in Friday’s MotoGP practice in Qatar?

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the fastest rider of the day. In the evening practice session, which decides the ten direct places in Q2, he lapped in 1:50.406, faster than Marc Marquez’s previous benchmark of 1:50.499.

Marquez ended up second, 0.142 seconds behind. Marco Bezzecchi (+0.260) and Francesco Bagnaia (+0.386) followed, putting three Ducatis in the top four. Raul Fernandez, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin, Johann Zarco, Ai Ogura and Brad Binder took the remaining direct Q2 places.

For a long time it looked like an evening for Aprilia. Bezzecchi was the first to set times below 1:52, several laps in a row. After a good ten minutes he was around six tenths of a second ahead of Marquez. Later he came within almost two tenths of the old record with a 1:50.694. Di Giannantonio struck back in the final minutes, and Bezzecchi had no answer after that.

For Marquez, by contrast, the evening was bumpy. He spent a long time on his used medium tyre, working on his pace for the sprint and the race, which will also take place under the floodlights. Then, shortly before the pit entry, the chain suddenly came off his Ducati. The Spaniard coasted to a stop without crashing and had to push the bike the last part of the way. On his spare bike and with a fresh soft rear tyre, he then became the first rider to set a 1:50 lap. In the end, though, it was not enough for the top spot.

First free practice: Marquez and Bezzecchi in a class of their own

In the afternoon the picture was still clear. The first practice session started at 14:45 local time with 34 degrees air temperature and 42 degrees on the asphalt, and there was still some sand on the track. These conditions therefore had little significance for the evening sessions. All riders used the medium rear tyre. The teams saved new rear tyres for the evening.

Marquez and Bezzecchi swapped places at the top several times, at one point separated by just 14 thousandths of a second. Marquez had the final word with a 1:52.278 on a tyre that was already 15 laps old. Bezzecchi stayed 0.110 seconds behind. Di Giannantonio finished third on a new front tyre, already more than four tenths of a second down. Pedro Acosta also managed a 1:52 lap in fourth, but had to park his KTM at the side of the track with a technical problem shortly before the end. Overall the gaps were large: only the top eight riders were within one second.

How fit is Jorge Martin after his broken radius?

Jorge Martin is not yet at full strength, but he is much further along than in Malaysia. MotoGP medical director Angel Charte examined him on Friday at noon under the new medical protocol and declared him fit.

Martin broke the radius in his right forearm in the sprint at Phillip Island. He attempted a comeback in Sepang but withdrew before qualifying. At home in Spain he had the cast removed and spent several days working with physiotherapy. He estimates the condition of his wrist at around 50 percent, compared with only around 20 percent in Malaysia. Back then, he said, he took so many painkillers that he felt dizzy. According to him, however, the bone is still broken.

On track the difference was clear to see. In the first practice session Martin completed 15 laps and at times ran in third place. In the end he was fifth, 0.734 seconds behind Marquez. In Sepang he had only managed two flying laps in a row in the first practice session, in Lusail he did five in his second run. It was not completely error-free, as he ran wide under braking a few times. In the evening he was also bothered by his nasal strip, which had come loose and which he removed while riding. With seventh place and a gap of 0.635 seconds, he still secured direct entry into Q2.

Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora remains cautious. He explained that Martin is already handling the changes of direction much better than a week ago, but is still struggling in the heavy braking zones. Fortunately, there are not many of those in Lusail. The team has told Martin clearly that he should take his time and not take any risks at all.

Which MotoGP riders surprised in Qatar?

Francesco Bagnaia was faster on Friday than he has been for a long time. Pedro Acosta, on the other hand, disappointed in the evening and will have to take the detour through Q1 in 14th place on Saturday.

Bagnaia with irony and pace

Bagnaia had caused some puzzlement after Sepang. After finishing 13th in the race, in which his last lap was slower than Moto2 times, he said that something on his Ducati that used to work had no longer existed since his win in Japan in 2025. Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi then said he did not know what Bagnaia meant. On Thursday in Qatar the question came up again, but Bagnaia offered no explanation. Instead, he answered with irony: “Non posso far parlare i media di me per i buoni risultati, così ho cercato un’altra strada ed è stato un buon modo” (I can’t get the media to talk about me because of good results, so I looked for another way, and it was a good move).

On track he then gave people reasons to talk about him. Bagnaia was sixth in the first practice session, and in the evening he was second at times and came within 0.094 seconds of Bezzecchi. He counts Lusail among the best tracks for Ducati, and it was here in 2021 that he took his first MotoGP pole position. He believes a top-six finish is possible this weekend. These are his last races for Ducati.

Acosta in Q1, highs and lows for Ogura and Viñales

Pedro Acosta was still fourth in the first practice session. In the evening the KTM factory rider got no further than 14th place, 1.169 seconds down. Fermin Aldeguer, making his comeback after breaking his hand at Mandalika, narrowly missed direct Q2 in eleventh.

Ai Ogura had set himself the goal of a top five in Qatar. On his last appearance in Lusail he was still a rookie and finished seventh and 15th. In the first practice session he only managed eleventh place, but in the evening the Trackhouse Aprilia rider was second at times. In ninth he made the direct jump into Q2.

In Lusail, Maverick Viñales considers rhythm more important than top speed. He recalled that he has already won here with Yamaha, even though he was up to 15 km/h down on top speed at the time. Last year he led the race on the KTM and later lost second place due to a tyre pressure penalty. This time he was 15th in both sessions, and at the end of the evening session his bike stopped at the pit entry.

Dixon pays his dues

Superbike rider Jake Dixon is standing in at Honda for Joan Mir, who is once again struggling with dizziness. It is his first MotoGP outing since 2021, when he contested two races for Petronas Yamaha. On his first fast lap he caught a big wobble, and a few corners later he crashed at Turn 15. In the first practice session he was last, 3.148 seconds down, and in the evening the gap shrank to just under two seconds. The Briton says he feels no pressure, as Honda told him to simply ride and enjoy it. He has Cal Crutchlow at his side in the garage as an adviser.

What does Marc Marquez need to win the world title in Qatar?

Marquez will be crowned world champion as early as Sunday if he scores 30 points more than Martin and 8 points more than Bezzecchi in Qatar. If he wins the Grand Prix, a 7-point advantage over Bezzecchi is also enough.

Going into the weekend, Marquez leads the championship with 399 points. Martin is second with 355 points, Bezzecchi third with 332 points. For Martin this means: even if Marquez wins both the sprint and the Grand Prix, he must score at least 8 points to postpone the decision until after Portimão. That is exactly his goal. He wants to delay the title celebrations and keep the fight open until the finale in Valencia. At the same time, he does not see himself in control: “Marc’s the only guy that can lose it or win it”.

Bezzecchi also wants to delay the decision, even though he himself describes the gap as large. His record at Lusail has been thin so far, with ninth place last year his best MotoGP result. Marquez, by contrast, won both races in Qatar in 2025. If he takes the title, it would be his eighth in the premier class and his tenth overall. After Qatar, the 2026 MotoGP season still has the races in Portugal from 20 to 22 November and in Valencia from 27 to 29 November on the calendar.

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