One down, 20 to go! The Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar kicked 2024 off in style as reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) bagged the first 25-point haul of the season.
But what statistics emerged from Lusail? Look no further:
1 – Bagnaia became the first reigning MotoGP™ World Champion to win both the final MotoGP™ race of the previous season and the opening race of the following season since MotoGP™ Legend Jorge Lorenzo did it in 2015 and 2016.
4 – Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) finished P4 on his Ducati debut – his best dry result since he finished P2 in Australia in 2022.
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9 – Rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) finished P9, which is the best result for a rookie on his MotoGP™ debut since Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) finished P8 in Qatar in 2019. Acosta set the fastest lap of the race and also set a new race lap record.
10 – This is Ducati’s 10th successive win in MotoGP™ races, a new personal record for the Bologna factory.
17 – Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) finished P3 to earn his first podium since he won the Thai GP last year. This is Martin’s 17th MotoGP™ podium and 45th overall in his Grand Prix career.
19 – Bagnaia took his 19th MotoGP™ win at the Qatar GP, equalling MotoGP™ Legend Barry Sheene in 16th place in the list of riders with the most premier class wins. Bagnaia has taken all his wins with Ducati and now has only four fewer wins than Casey Stoner (23), the most successful Ducati rider in the class.
21 – With Bagnaia and Martin, Ducati is now the manufacturer with the most MotoGP™ podiums in Qatar with 21. Ducati now has eight wins in MotoGP™ at the Lusail International Circuit, two less than Yamaha, the most successful manufacturer in Qatar.
46 – Brad Binder’s second place is his 11th MotoGP™ podium and his 46th in Grand Prix racing, equalling MotoGP™ Legend Kork Ballington as the South African rider with the most Grand Prix podiums across all classes. Binder equalled KTM’s best result in Qatar, which was his second place in 2022.
47 – With Bagnaia winning and Martin claiming P3, Ducati is on a streak of 47 MotoGP™ Grand Prix races in a row where they've had at least one rider on the rostrum.