Raul Fernandez stall forced Qatar MotoGP to restart
2024 MotoGP season began in unusual fashion with aborted start
The 2024 season-opening Qatar MotoGP was forced into a last-gasp restart when Raul Fernandez stalled.
The Trackhouse rider experienced a technical issue on the starting grid, with the new season just seconds away from beginning.
As a result, the start was waved off.
Fernandez's bike was taken back to the pits, the Spanish rider was forced to sheepishly follow, and the remaining riders were looking around baffled until they realised what happened.
Fernandez was due to begin from 12th on the grid. It seemed like he might be forced to restart from the pitlane, but instead he started from the back of the grid, giving up 10 positions.
The race was then reduced from 22 to 21 laps.
It was a remarkable and anti-climatic start to the 2024 season, just moments before the roar of 22 MotoGP machines was set to fill the Qatar night.
The delay, of approximately 10 minutes, eventually did nothing to dampen the excitement.
Fernandez was able to swiftly start making progress despite his nightmare start.
But, with four laps to go, Fernandez's strange outing came to a premature end when he retired into the pits.
He was the only rider not to complete the season-opening grand prix.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
