Qualifying, Losail: Di Giannantonio sets fastest time – Martin pulls off a Q2 miracle

The season-long battle between Aprilia and Ducati continues in the Qatari desert. World Championship favourite Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) finished FP1 in daylight ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). The World Championship runner-up from the Aprilia camp also impressed. Thirteen days after breaking his wrist, Jorge Martin guided the RS-GP to fifth place. Sandwiched between them were Fabio Di Giannantonio and KTM youngster Acosta.

The ‘Martinator’s’ clear aim was to finish in the top ten in the one-hour qualifying session and thereby secure a realistic chance of scoring World Championship points in the races. If Martin manages to score eight World Championship points in Qatar, the World Championship will remain wide open.

Unlike FP1, the crucial qualifying session now took place under floodlights. Track temperatures were now around 20 degrees lower than at midday. It kicked off with a statement from the World Championship challenger. Jorge once again pushed his way into the top five in the first wave of times. Only his team-mate Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez, Di Giannantonio and Pecco Bagnaia were faster.

Fuhr die zweitschnellste Zeit: Champion Marc Marquez

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Marco Bezzecchi impressed in the first quarter of an hour. The Italian was the fastest for several laps and, with a time of 1:51.764, sat in third place, seven tenths ahead of Marc Márquez. Sandwiched between them, just one hundredth faster than ‘MM93’, was Pecco Bagnaia. Behind the championship leader came ‘Diggia’, Acosta, Martin, Zarco (Honda) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse).

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Honda stand-in rider Jake Dixon put in a respectable performance. The stand-in for Joan Mir quickly clocked a time of 1:54.4 and was thus 17th, initially outperforming Tech3 rider Maverick Viñales.

Even before the halfway point of the longest session of the MotoGP weekend, there was movement in the standings. Japan’s MotoGP star Ai Ogura moved up to second place behind Bezzecchi, thereby underlining Aprilia’s competitiveness. At this stage, all the Aprilia riders were on course for Q2. The action continued with a further improvement from Marco Bezzecchi. The rider from Rimini, now on a soft rear tyre, improved his time to 1:51.1 minutes, putting him almost a second ahead of the field.

But Ducati, with Fabio Di Giannantonio, was also able to keep up. With 30 minutes on the clock, the fluorescent VR46 Ducati took the lead. Marc Marquez was in fourth place, a second behind, but now ahead of Pecco Bagnaia. Acosta had dropped to seventh, Martin to eighth. The top 10 quickly became even tighter. Martin moved up to sixth, Fernandez even as high as third.

Meanwhile, Ducati champion Marc Marquez was in trouble. With 26 minutes to go, the GP26’s drive chain snapped – Marquez lost power and valuable minutes. Once the number 93 was back on track, it took two laps before Marquez clocked the first sub-1:50 lap time, securing first place. Even better from Ducati’s perspective – Bagnaia followed seconds later in P2.

With ten minutes to go, the tide turned again in favour of the Aprilia project. Marco Bezzecchi clocked a best time of 1:50.694 minutes and pulled his team-mate Martin up to fifth place. KTM rider Pedro Acosta, however, was down in 13th place ahead of the final push. Ai Ogura had also fallen well behind, sitting in 15th place with ten minutes remaining on the clock.

In Katar wieder stark: Francesco Bagnaia

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

In the final five minutes, events unfolded in rapid succession. Fabio Di Giannantonio put in a dream lap: 1:50.406 – taking first place with a record-breaking time. Enea Bastianini was also on course for a fast lap, eventually crossing the line in fifth place. Marc Márquez also had something left in the tank; the championship leader overtook Bezzecchi to take second place. Meanwhile, Zarco and Ogura jumped back into the top 10.

Things didn’t go so well, however, for Acosta, who sits fourth in the World Championship – finishing 14th, the KTM rider must now go through Q1. He was 1.1 seconds off the fastest time. Bastianini secured a place in Q2 in sixth, whilst Brad Binder also progressed, albeit narrowly, in tenth. But perhaps the biggest surprise came from Jorge Martin, who managed to finish seventh despite a broken wrist. Aprilia has achieved this important first milestone.

Tapfer und schnell: Jorge Martin

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Compared to FP1, Honda rider Dixon improved by two seconds. Nevertheless, the Briton could only manage 18th place. His Superbike team-mate Iker Lecuona finished the session in 16th place.

As is well known, all four Yamaha riders will not be on the grid. The second Japanese manufacturer announced on Sunday after the Malaysian GP that it would be absent from the Qatar GP due to the conflict in the Middle East – and has followed through on that decision.