Jorge Martín led this afternoon’s first free practice of the Qatar MotoGP. Unsurprisingly, Ducati proved to be the strongest manufacturer in Losail, in a preparation session where lap times are not the main priority. Miguel Oliveira finished in 15th place.
Jorge Martín led this afternoon’s first free practice of the Qatar MotoGP. Unsurprisingly, Ducati proved to be the strongest manufacturer in Losail, in a preparation session where lap times are not the main priority. Miguel Oliveira finished in 15th place.
Still in the first quarter of an hour, Martín was overtaken, with Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) taking the first two positions. The two were overtaken by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who was at the top after 15 minutes.
The table remained relatively stable, but close to the last quarter of an hour there was a new leader. Di Giannantonio overtook the official Ducatis to take first place. In the last ten minutes, Martín moved into second. Several riders were improving, causing some changes in the top of the table.
With five minutes to go, Martín moved into first place, with Morbidelli in second, di Giannantonio in third, and Viñales in fourth. Augusto Fernández (GasGas Tech3/KTM) was fifth and suffered a crash that meant the end of the session for him.
Until the end, Martín was never beaten, securing the first position at the end of the free practice. His teammate, Johann Zarco, moved up to second, just 0.172s behind. Bagnaia followed, with the top five closed by Raúl Fernández and Morbidelli. As for Oliveira, after being among the top five at more than one moment, he couldn’t keep up with the improvements in the last minutes and finished in 15th.
