MotoGP Qatar 2026, Free Practice 1 at Lusail: Márquez ahead of Bezzecchi, Martín 5th

Marc Márquez starts the Lusail weekend from the front. In Free Practice 1 for the Qatar GP, the Spanish Ducati rider sets the best time in 1:52.278 and finishes 110 thousandths ahead of Marco Bezzecchi. Fabio Di Giannantonio is behind them, over four tenths adrift, while Pedro Acosta is fourth before stopping because of a technical problem on his KTM. Jorge Martín completes the first session in fifth place, 0,734 off the championship leader's benchmark.

The picture from the session tells of a balance that is only apparent. Márquez and Bezzecchi immediately make the difference compared with the rest of the field and battle for the top spot for much of the session, while the other protagonists trail by larger gaps. Pecco Bagnaia finishes sixth, ahead of Raúl Fernández, Luca Marini, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco, with the other Italian riders and the leading names already forming an initial hierarchy that is useful, but not definitive, for the Lusail weekend.

Martín improves, Acosta stops

Among the most important notes is Martín's return to a more solid situation than in Malaysia. The Spanish Aprilia rider completes 16 laps, the same number as Márquez and Bezzecchi, and shows better signs in changes of direction, although he remains in difficulty under the hardest braking because of the fracture to his right radius. His fifth-fastest time is an encouraging start to a weekend that still finds him dealing with the after-effects of the injury.

Things do not go as well for Acosta, forced into the pits by a technical problem on his KTM after setting the fourth-fastest time. Further back finish Enea Bastianini, 17th, and Jake Dixon, last at 3.1 seconds off Márquez in his return to MotoGP with Honda in place of Joan Mir. Also worth noting is Brad Binder's crash at turn 7, with the South African rider finishing 12th.