Ducati and Bagnaia dominate MotoGP tests at Lusail circuit

Double world champion Francesco Bagnaia sent an ominous warning to any rival for the new season that he and his Ducati will take some beating when he dominated the tests in Qatar. On the Lusail International Circuit that hosts the world championships opening Grand Prix in two weeks time the 27-year-old Italian repeated the form he showed at Sepang, Malaysia 10 days ago. After a tentative start in windy conditions Bagnaia edged out his Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini by 0.120sec to show the bike itself with a new engine they used to full advantage as the session drew to a close.
The Turin-born champion was a full 0.308sec faster than third placed Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia while former champion Mark Marquez sprung a surprise at new team Ducati-Gresini timing fourth at 0.383. The opening GP at Lusail takes place March 10 with 21 dates on the calendar with each of the last two seasons going right down to the wire.
Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin claimed P7, while it proved a very positive Test at the VR46 garage. Marco Bezzecchi didn’t enjoy the best of times in Sepang, but on day two here in Qatar, he was the first rider to go under Luca Marini’s lap record, while Fabio Di Giannantonio’s incredible testing form continued with both riders sitting inside the top 10.
Aprilia may just prove to be the biggest thorn in the side of Ducati machinery in 2024 if testing has been anything to go by. Espargaro, who hit the deck at Turn 5, was consistently at the business end of the timesheets, while factory teammate Maverick Vinales claimed P6, and displayed a consistent high 1:52/low 1:53 pace on his longer runs on Tuesday.
The emergence of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) in Qatar has proven a real highlight, and the Spaniard ends the Test in P5. Teammate Miguel Oliveira cut a dejected figure by the close of Monday’s action, but his fortunes seemed to have improved on one lap pace, getting into the 1:51s and finishing P12.
It also looks like a satisfactory couple of days for KTM in Qatar, with both Brad Binder and Jack Miller (both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) going under the lap record, while the former finished inside the top 10 times of the Test. It wasn’t all smooth sailing with Binder forced to stop on his longer run with technical issues while Miller crashed, though he came out of it relatively unscathed.

MotoGP test times
(5.38km lap)
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1min 50.952sec
2. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati) at 0.120sec
3. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.308
4. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.383
5. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 0.389
6. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 0.435
7. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 0.514
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.537
9. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 0.631
10. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.726