Jorge Martín wins the qualifying in Qatar with a record time. The reigning MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez are in row two.
Jorge Martín is the first pole setter of the 2024 MotoGP season. The Pramac Ducati rider set a new course record in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix with 1:50.789 minutes and narrowly beat Aleix Espargaro on Aprilia and Enea Bastianini on Ducati.
“I don’t think I’m really the fastest,” Martín puts it into perspective. “That was the case today. Of course I’m very happy that it became another pole for me.”
“But the important tasks are yet to come, namely later (in the sprint; editor’s note) and tomorrow (in the race). We have to be fully concentrated and understand where we can still improve. It really is the case “They’re all super fast.”
MotoGP: “Pre-qualifying” only on Saturday morning
After a rain shower yesterday, the decision as to who would make it straight into Q2 was only made on Saturday morning shortly before qualifying. In a training session that was extended to 45 minutes, the field fought for the top 10 positions.
Anyone who didn’t make the cut had to fight to advance in Q1. This applied to the entire Yamaha and Honda camp and was also the case for KTM rider Jack Miller, who crashed in the final phase of training.
Marco Bezzecchi (VR46-Ducati), Franco Morbidelli (Pramac-Ducati), Augusto Fernandez (Tech3-GasGas) and both Trackhouse Aprilia drivers also competed in Q1. The latter narrowly missed out on direct entry into Q2 in 11th and 12th place.
But only one of them made it into the top 2 in Q1: Raul Fernandez topped the session and subsequently moved into the second qualifying session in Qatar with Miller.
MotoGP: Jorge Martín breaks record in first attempt
The subsequent battle for pole position remained exciting until the end. Martín set a new course record on his first flying lap. After the first run, five Ducatis took the first five positions.
In the second run, Aprilia and KTM also had their say. The field was getting closer and closer together, but no one could get past Martín. Instead, the Spaniard was trying to improve his best time again, but was slowed down by a late crash from Brad Binder on the KTM.
Martín was still safe from pole. In the end, however, only 0.083 seconds separated him from Espargaro. Bastianini was only three thousandths behind in third place.
Despite his crash, Binder secured fourth place on the grid. He shares the second row with world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Marc Márquez (Gresini-Ducati). The top 6 drivers were separated by less than two tenths of a second.
MotoGP: Acosta eighth in first qualifying
MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas) finished his first qualifying in the premier class in a strong eighth place, directly behind Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati). Alex Márquez (Gresini-Ducati) was ninth. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), Miller and Raul Fernandez lined up behind them.
Johann Zarco completed qualifying as by far the best Honda driver. Having narrowly failed to advance in Q1, the LCR rider ended up in 13th place. Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse-Aprilia) was 14th, followed by Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in 15th and 16th positions.
Honda driver Joan Mir crashed late in Q1 and couldn’t get past 17th place. His new teammate Luca Marini came in eleventh behind Augusto Fernandez, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda) and Aleix Rins (Yamaha).
Marini was one and a half seconds behind Raul Fernandez’s Q1 best time and was only able to leave one driver behind, Morbidelli.