The Qatar Grand Prix marks the return of MotoGP. After a sprint race yesterday, which saw Jorge Martin claim victory, Francesco Bagnaia secures a beautiful win this Sunday. A look back at the first weekend of the season.
Imperial. The double reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia made short work of his rivals this Sunday to claim his 19th career victory. As night fell on the Losail circuit in Qatar, 22 laps were scheduled for the first race of the season. Yesterday morning, Jorge Martin took pole position. In the afternoon, the Spaniard won the sprint race. Starting first, number 89 had the chance to achieve a perfect weekend with three wins. Unfortunately for him, “Pecco” had other plans. Despite a delayed start of a few minutes due to an issue with Raúl Fernández’s bike, nothing disturbed the Turin native. However, the race was reduced to 21 laps following this incident.
From the start, Francesco Bagnaia had a sublime take-off. Even though he started fifth on the grid, the Italian found himself in second after the first corner. Behind Jorge Martin, the leader, he only needed a few more meters to seize the first place, which he never relinquished. Leading the race, number 63 controlled it masterfully by setting his pace. Jorge Martin (Pramac) and Brad Binder (KTM) engaged in a great battle for second place. The South African emerged victorious from this fierce battle.
In the standings, thanks to his victory of the day, Francesco Bagnaia takes the lead in the championship with 31 points. Already at the top, he is ahead of Brad Binder (29 points) and Jorge Martin (28 points).
A weekend to forget for the French, Acosta shines
After poor qualifications and a mediocre sprint race, the French were eager to do better. Unfortunately, the miracle didn’t happen. The two French riders finished the race outside the top 10. On his Yamaha, the Nice-native, Fabio Quartararo, climbed to 11th place after starting 16th. Yesterday, El Diablo finished 12th in the sprint race. Meanwhile, Johann Zarco, newly arrived at Honda, finished today just behind his compatriot in 12th place. During the sprint race, he finished 16th.
The only rookie, Pedro Acosta (GasGas), dazzled the race with all his talent. He made quite an impression, to say the least. The young 19-year-old rider even had the luxury of overtaking the legend Marc Marquez. However, the end of the race proved fatal for him. His lack of experience and poor tire management caused him to drop from 4th place (which went to the Spaniard) to 9th. A promising performance nonetheless.
Next meeting in Portugal in two weeks.
