The first round of the MotoGP world championship is over and Pecco Bagnaia is the first winner of Sunday’s races. The Italian got off to a great start and once he was at the front of the race he never lost his position.
Everything was in place for the start of the race with the most points on offer in MotoGP, with Jorge Martín starting from pole position, having won the Sprint race yesterday. Aleix Espargaró, the oldest rider on the grid, is also on the front row, as is Enea Bastianini.
The second row is made up of big names like Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez.
As in the Moto3 race, it was now the turn of new problems in MotoGP with Raúl Fernández’s RS-GP not starting, which led to a change in the total number of laps in the race from 22 to 21 and a slight change in the race start time.
More grid drama tonight! 😱
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 10, 2024
Start aborted! Problems for @25RaulFernandez! 🔴#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/nwTEvvwawE
The restart came a few minutes later, with Fernández on his second bike.
At last count, the best start belonged to Martín, but Bagnaia was on a roll and soon took the lead of the race. Martín was second and Binder third, with Márquez fourth and Bastianini fifth.
And shortly afterwards the first crash, with Jack Miller at turn 1 of the Qatari circuit, with another KTM rider in the spotlight, Binder, coming in second. Miguel Oliveira was also warned that he would have to do the Long Lap, a penalty carried over from last year.
Pedro Acosta continued to surprise and was the fastest rider on the track at the moment, and even better, he soon moved up to sixth place after overtaking Bastianini. Further ahead Martín regained second place.
🦈 SHARK ALERT! 🦈@37_pedroacosta picks off @alexmarquez73! ⚔️#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/PQMuiDm26V
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 10, 2024
The fight between Acosta and Álex Márquez was getting more and more intense and the rookie was putting the Moto2 world champion on his heels, and the overtake was confirmed shortly afterwards. Bagnaia was leading the events by 0.342s over Martín and was now faster than his opponent and seemed intent on increasing the gap.
With eight laps completed, this was the top ten, again with Binder in second:
Two laps later Bagnaia was effectively widening the gap to second, now to 1.177s, while the battle between Binder and Martín saw a new chapter, with Martín returning to second place. This battle “only” helped Bagnaia. Marc Márquez was fourth and 0.308s ahead of Acosta.
Aleix Espargaró was the best Aprilia rider in ninth, ahead of Maverick Viñales, with Fabio Quartararo in 11th ahead of the best Honda, Joan Mir.
Binder was back in second position and on the next lap… a Spanish duel with Acosta confirming the overtake on Marc Márquez. The dream of a podium finish wasn’t that far away.
Surely not! 🤯@37_pedroacosta has just DIVED underneath @marcmarquez93 on his debut! 😱#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/MU2z5rTAKH
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 10, 2024
Bagnaia continued to lead the race, but his gap to second seemed to stabilize at around 0.9s, with Martín now more than 1s behind Binder.
And if the reigning champion was in control at the front, the battle between Acosta and Marc Márquez was new, with the Gresini Racing rider returning to fourth. Álex Márquez was 0.222s off the pace and could soon attempt an attack on the top five.
And so it was, Álex Márquez passed Acosta but the rookie’s problems didn’t end there as Bastianini also gained a position on him shortly afterwards and… he seemed to be one of the slowest on the track at the moment: only Raúl Fernández had a slower pace, and Fabio Di Giannantonio, 0.273s off the pace, could almost be attacking the Spaniard too.
With four laps to go, R. Fernández called it a day and headed for the Trackhouse Racing pit. In the opposite direction, Bagnaia continued to lead the race by 0.905s over Binder, Martín was third and 2.029s off the lead. Marc Márquez was fourth, 0.470s off the podium, while Álex remained fifth.
DiGia finally overtook Acosta and was seventh and… Aleix Espargaró was looking for an opportunity to gain a place: just 0.197s separated the oldest rider on the track from the youngest. Also gaining a position was Bastianini, now in fifth to take over from Álex Márquez.
A. Espargaró climbed to eighth place after Acosta’s failure, but with two laps to go and a 1.695s lead over Viñales, ninth place was a very likely reality.
Going into the final lap, only a disaster could prevent Bagnaia from winning, leading by 1.493s.
The race ended shortly afterwards with Bagnaia confirming victory, while Brad Binder was second and Martín third.