MotoGP Qatar, Marquez ahead of Bezzecchi in free practice: Martin 5th after medical clearance

At Lusail, Friday at the Qatar GP starts with Marc Marquez ahead of everyone. The MotoGP leader ends the first session in 1'52"278 and leaves Marco Bezzecchi 110 thousandths behind, in a start that confirms the direct fight between Ducati and Aprilia on the Qatari circuit. Fabio Di Giannantonio completes the leading trio, while Pedro Acosta takes fourth place before stopping with a technical problem on the KTM.

Jorge Martin returns to the weekend after the medical check at the circuit and responds with fifth place in FP1. The Spanish rider for Aprilia, coming back from the fractured radius he sustained in Australia, rides without hesitation and completes 16 laps, finishing 734 thousandths behind Marquez. In the morning at Lusail, according to MotoGP.com, his gap to the leader was 0.7 seconds ahead of Practice.

Among the notes from the morning session there is also the crash of Brad Binder, who went down early in the day with the KTM overturning several times. In the same session, Acosta reports a failure at the end and leaves the track early. Behind the top four, in the morning free practice, a strong Pecco Bagnaia reappears, listed among the benchmarks of the day together with the first eight in the standings.

Pre-qualifying

The afternoon changes the face of the standings. In pre-qualifying, Fabio Di Giannantonio sets the fastest time in 1'50"406 and lines up Marquez, second by 142 thousandths, and Bezzecchi, third by 260. Bagnaia moves up to fourth place ahead of Raul Fernandez and Enea Bastianini, while Martin finishes seventh and secures direct access to Q2.

The session was not simple for Marquez: 25 minutes from the end, the chain on his Ducati breaks and the Spanish world champion is forced to return to the pits for repairs. In Q1, however, Franco Morbidelli, 12th, and Luca Marini, 13th, will have to go through, together with Pedro Acosta, hampered by a day marked by technical problems.