Putting on a show under the lights, Fabio Di Giannantonio was untouchable on Friday evening to bag P1 in Practice and to lead the field into Sprint Saturday. The Italian set a new lap record with a 1’50.406 seeing him with nearly a tenth and a half over nearest rival Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) who suffered a chain failure whilst Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) leads the Noale brand’s charge in third.
APRILIA COME OUT STRONG: Bezzecchi leads the charge in Qatar
Straight down to business and competitive from the first lap, ‘Bez’ placed himself up at the front and improved straight away on his second run too – and he wasn’t the only Aprilia in good form. Returning to action after sitting out most of the Malaysian GP, 2024 World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) was up in the top ten, aiming to book a spot straight into Q2. Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and teammate Raul Fernandez were also making it a great day for the Noale factory, both up inside the provisional Q2 places.
IN THE DUCATI CORNER: Marc Marquez unchained - literally
Climbing the order having led at the very start of the session, Di Giannantonio took over at the top with a 1’51.174, more than 1.5s quicker than he went in FP1. Marquez and teammate Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) were fifth and sixth but the #93 suffered a setback when the chain sprung off his GP26 Desmosedici with a little under 30 minutes on the clock. Far from ideal as he trundled down pitlane, an unexpected pause into the reigning World Champion’s second run. The delay wasn’t too long for Marquez as he hit the track with 18 minutes left on the clock.
GOALPOST MOVED: Marquez back to his best
With just under a quarter of an hour remaining, the #93 got himself back into P1 with the first 1’50 of the weekend – a 1’50.925, undeterred by his previous disruption. Improvers behind included teammate Bagnaia in P2, Fernandez in P5, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) in sixth, as well as Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who completed the top ten. This left Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P12 and Martin in 16th needing lap times, which the #89 delivered to put himself P5.
CLOSING STAGES: your Friday top 10 from Lusail, Marquez and Martin make Q2
Red sectors were lighting up the timing screens as Di Giannantonio found good form to set a 1’50.406, a new lap record at Lusail. A final flying lap improvement for Marquez wasn’t enough to see him into P1, 0.142s adrift of Diggia at the front. Bezzecchi was strong to lead the Aprilia charge in third with Pecco behind in fourth. Fernandez rounded out the top five ahead of Bastianini, Martin, Zarco, a late charge from Ogura in ninth and Binder in tenth just over a second away from Di Giannantonio. For Martin, a big boost having struggled at Sepang and needing to pull out of Saturday – this weekend, he’s in the mix.
FACING Q1: Acosta headlines after Friday to forget
The Shark finds himself as one of the heavy hitters to not make the cut into Q2 with P14 being his position after day one. He was behind Aldeguer on his return in P11, Lusail podium finisher from 2025 Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Marini, whilst Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) suffered a technical issue on his way to 15th ahead of Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) and Jake Dixon (Honda HRC Castrol), with the whole field covered by less than two seconds.
Day 1 done, Sprint Saturday awaits: action fires up from 12:30 local time (UTC +3), don’t miss a lap of the action!
MotoGP Practice results from Lusail