MotoGP, FP1: Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi in a league of their own – Martin 5th

The MotoGP starting grid in Qatar is relatively small. Following Yamaha’s withdrawal, Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, Jack Miller and test rider Augusto Fernandez will be missing this weekend. Alex Marquez had to undergo surgery on his shoulder and hand this week. Superbike ace Iker Lecuona will be taking the reins of the light blue Ducati for him in the Doha desert. Gresini regular Fermin Aldeguer, on the other hand, is making his comeback in Qatar. Honda rider Joan Mir is once again absent due to illness. For this reason, HRC has nominated Superbike rider Jake Dixon as a replacement. The Briton will line up alongside Luca Marini in Honda’s factory team.

Aprilia ace Jorge Martin is giving it another go in Doha despite a broken wrist. Trailing Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) by 44 points, the ‘Martinator’ still has a chance of winning the world title – which is precisely why he has made the trip to Doha. Speaking of injuries: Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez, who was forced to pull out after FP1 in Malaysia, is also back on the starting grid this weekend with his injured right index finger.

On Friday afternoon, the 45-minute FP1 session took place in Qatar. By the start of the first free practice session, the air temperature over the Lusail International Circuit had risen to 33 degrees Celsius.

After five minutes, Honda stand-in Jake Dixon crashed at Turn 15 – it was a miserable start to his MotoGP weekend. Back in his pit, Dixon had veteran Cal Crutchlow by his side as an ‘advisor’. After ten minutes, Marco Bezzecchi topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:52.655. Marc Márquez, Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martín and Fermin Aldeguer rounded out the top five. Sixth was KTM ace Pedro Acosta. Brad Binder crashed at Turn 7. He escaped uninjured.

Erster Verfolger: Bezzecchi (Aprilia) fuhr im FP1 auf Platz 2

Foto: Gold and Goose

Topic of the week

World Champion Kimi Antonelli: record-breaker, heart-breaker, the Tifosi’s dream

With his third-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli has become the youngest of the 36 Formula 1 world champions to date. The 20-year-old Italian is on a record-breaking run. The Tifosi are dreaming of Antonelli in a Ferrari.

Read More

TV Program

Tomorrow

Lusail: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

07.11.2026 - 10:25

Martin had completed his first stint with three consecutive laps. He made a much better impression than he had a week ago in Malaysia – a fact also confirmed by Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora to colleagues from motogp.com during the session.

Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) moved up to fifth place. Luca Marini was now sixth. The top five at the halfway point of the 45-minute session: Bezzecchi, Márquez, Bagnaia, Martín and Moreira.

Bezzecchi improved his best time to 1:52.532 mins. By way of comparison, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) set the MotoGP lap record in Doha in 2025 with a time of 1:50.499 mins.

With 19 minutes remaining, Marc Marquez set a new fastest lap of 1:52.379 mins. Ai Ogura moved up to fifth place.

Two minutes later, ‘Bez’ improved his best time to 1:52.393 mins. The Italian and MM93 were the only ones so far to have stayed under 1:53 mins. Bagnaia, in third place, was already 0.7 seconds behind the leader. Acosta moved up to fourth place, whilst Di Giannantonio was now fifth.

Shortly afterwards, Martin stepped it up – he clocked a time of 1:53.063 minutes, putting him in third place. With twelve minutes to go, the 2024 World Champion had completed eleven laps.

Aprilia-Hoffnung Jorge Martin meldete sich zurück

Foto: Gold and Goose

The order with ten minutes to go: Marquez, Bezzecchi, Martin, Bagnaia, Acosta, Di Giannantonio, Ogura, Fernandez, Aldeguer and Moreira. Dixon was last, 3.545 seconds behind.

With five minutes to go, Martin got back on his RS-GP – as did all the other MotoGP riders.

With three minutes remaining on the clock, Acosta set the third-fastest time of 1:52.955. Shortly afterwards, Marquez improved his best time to 1:52.278. ‘Diggia’ moved up to third place (1:52.691).

Shortly before the end, Pedro Acosta had to pull his KTM over to the side of the track due to a technical problem.

No one else came close to Marc Marquez’s time. Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio, Acosta, Martin, Bagnaia, Fernandez, Marini, Morbidelli and Zarco rounded out the top 10. Jake Dixon finished in last place, 3.148 seconds behind.

The time gaps were significant. Di Giannantonio, in third place, was over four tenths of a second behind. Only the top eight were within one second of each other.