2024 Qatar MotoGP, Lusail - Friday Practice Results

*Rookie.

Fastest 2024 Qatar Test lap   
Feb 20th: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 50.952s (Day 2/2)

Official Lusail MotoGP records   
Best lap: Luca Marini 1m 51.762s (2023)   
Fastest race lap: Enea Bastianini 1m 52.978s (2023)

• Qatar Moto2: Latest Results
• Qatar Moto3: Latest Results

Marc Marquez tops the grand prix timesheets for the first time as a Gresini Ducati rider during a surprise wet Friday night practice for the 2024 Qatar MotoGP season-opener.

Marquez, starting his first race weekend on a Desmosedici, had earlier been fourth fastest in the dry.

The heavy early evening shower cleared long before the MotoGP bikes returned for their second session of the day, but the Lusail track remained fully wet.

While most of the earlier Moto2 class simply sat out the wet conditions, MotoGP riders looked to have no choice but to push with the top ten places due to decide direct access to Saturday's Qualifying 2.

However, the safety question marks raised by the unfamiliar wet-at-night scenario - previously banned due to visibility concerns, until a brief wet test in 2018 suggested it was possible - saw Race Direction change the status of the MotoGP session to a 'free practice'. 

Saturday's final practice, extended to 45mins (13:40 to 14:25 local time), will now decide the top ten riders with direct Q2 access.

Tech3 team-mates Augusto Fernandez and rookie Pedro Acosta, who thrilled with his speed and a big save in the earlier dry session, were second and third behind Marquez in the wet.

Pramac Ducati's FP1 leader Jorge Martin was only 18th, with reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia in 12th after a subdued opening day.

The remainder of the weekend is expected to be dry.

*Rookie.

Fastest 2024 Qatar Test lap   
Feb 20th: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 50.952s (Day 2/2) 

Official Lusail MotoGP records   
Best lap: Luca Marini 1m 51.762s (2023)   
Fastest race lap: Enea Bastianini 1m 52.978s (2023) 

• Qatar Moto2: Latest Results
• Qatar Moto3: Latest Results

Pramac Ducati's reigning title runner-up Jorge Martin leads opening practice for the 2024 Qatar MotoGP season opener by 0.047s from Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro at Lusail.

But before Martin and Espargaro's late push, Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta, who have spent the winter playing down expectations, stole much of the limelight.

Quick from the opening laps, star rookie Acosta was fastest as the closing ten minutes began. The exciting Spanish teenager also made a Marquez-style save on his way to third (+0.071s) for GASGAS Tech3.

Marquez likewise featured on top of the timesheets several times during his first official grand prix session as a Gresini Ducati rider, finishing in a close fourth (0.177s).

In a repeat of his end-of-2023 performances, Ducati's reigning double champion Francesco Bagnaia made a slow start to the weekend before climbing up the order.

While pace in the daylight practice sessions may not be relevant for the night time race conditions - Martin's 1m 52.624s best is over 1.5s from the best testing lap last month - the ability to set a flying lap in the afternoon heat will be vital for Saturday's qualifying.

This evening's second MotoGP session, held in darkness, will decide the top ten riders with direct access to Saturday's Qualifying 2.

Franco Morbidelli was riding for the first time since Valencia last November. The new Pramac Ducati rider missed both pre-season tests as a precaution after being knocked unconscious in a January training accident.

Miguel Oliveira will have a long lap penalty to serve on Sunday, carried over from last November’s Qatar event, the Portuguese having missed the 2023 Valencia finale due to injury.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must now stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.

The penalty for failing to meet this minimum in a Grand Prix will be a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.