The time has come! From the first previews in Valencia to the February tests, the pre-season MotoGP 2024 made the headlines on specialist sites, but the wait seems to have been counted in months and minutes at a time. But now it's time for the lights to come on in Qatar before they go out for the first Sprint race and the Grand Prix!
Back to action with Ducati stronger than ever!
After the pre-season, there is no doubt that the defending champion Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and the Desmosedici #1 are the package to beat this year. There is also no doubt that his teammate Enea Bastianini has looked extremely convincing from the other side of the garage, now that he has regained his full potential after an injury-marred 2023 season. Could the rivalry that began to escalate at the end of 2022 continue?
In terms of rivalry, the one that animated last season also seems likely to continue with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who had a pre-season divided between convincing timed laps and signs that he needed a little more time to be perfectly comfortable on the Ducati GP24. But there is no doubt that when the lights go out, he will be there!
Conversely, on the other side of the Pramac garage, Franco Morbidelli, sidelined from the pre-season by a crash in Jerez, should start very cautiously…
Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) completed the top three in 2023, but, at least on paper, he appears to have had a tougher pre-season than his surprising new teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio which picked up where it left off in terms of pacing…
Teammate again, Alex Marquez now also has one, which he knows particularly well at Gresini Racing MotoGP. For AM73, the goal of the year has to be a Grand Prix victory, as he now has Sprint victories and a few podiums. For his new teammate, the eight-time world champion Marc Marquez, it's hard to say what his secret goal really is. Rhythm ? Victory ? Prove that he is still the best driver in the world? A ninth world championship? Pure pleasure? There are probably 93 possibilities but we may never know the real answer. However, Qatar has never been his best circuit, so his first outing while he is still finding his limits may not serve as a crystal ball for the rest of the season to come...
Who to counter Ducati?
We think first of all about KTM which lines up both a pilot who really never gives up, Brad Binder at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and a rookie who promises a lot,
Peter Acosta at Red Bull GASGAS Tech3.
6th in 2021 and 2022 then 4th in the 2023 championship, the South African also managed to become a Sprint winner. He will therefore logically aim for a place on the final podium, especially since the men of Mattighofen are not letting up their efforts to develop the RC16, even if it means adding skills acquired in F1.
The Spanish shark, for his part, will have to know how to slip through the cracks of the media net to learn his trade and, possibly, break the record of Marc Marquez as the youngest winner of the premier class by the Sachsenring…
At Aprilia, the pre-season was interesting. The experience ofAlex Espargaro resulted in an almost immediate storming of the first lines of the timesheet, while his teammate Maverick Vinales et Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) took longer to put the pieces of the puzzle together, Raul fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) having had less time on the track since he was deprived of a large part of the Sepang tests following a fall. The Noale factory is generally used to shining in winter before experiencing some reliability problems during the season, but this year it has even higher expectations. SO…
We are working to get back to the forefront!
At Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, the search continues to close the gap with the best and improve the pace on a lap with new tires. But the new concession system has already allowed the Iwata brand to use more track time with the racing drivers during the shakedown, and we've also seen some aerodynamic updates appear, in addition to the latest and promising evolution of the four-cylinder engine online of the YZR-M1. These drivers are unfortunately only two in number, the 2021 champion fabio quartararo and the newcomer alex rins, but are very eager to get back to work and see where they really stand in the pecking order over a full race distance, especially with their top speed improving.
Honda has also taken advantage of the new concessions to field racing drivers during the Shakedown and, like Yamaha, its engine specifications will not be frozen. They also have a few new faces to welcome, with Luca marini (Repsol Honda Team) and Johann zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), both men being positive about the project they have embarked on. We know it's a brand new bike and they've made progress, but can they close the gap even further as the season begins in earnest?
Combined results from the MotoGP test in Sepang (Malaysia):
Combined results from the MotoGP test in Lusail (Qatar):
The first motorsport world championship began in 1949 with a calendar of six races across Europe. Today, we are at more than 20 events around the world, with 777 points at stake across 21 Tissot sprints and 21 Grand Prix races. History is in the making and we will experience it when the lights come on at the Lusail International Circuit…
