MotoGP LIVE Qatar Race: Enea Bastianini makes the Gresini team shine

Jorge Martin qualified on pole position for the fifth time in MotoGP and for the second consecutive time at Lusail after the Doha GP in 2021. This is Ducati's third consecutive pole at Lusail with Jorge Martin in 2021/2 and 2022, added to Francesco Bagnaia's pole in 2021/1. It's also Ducati's seventh consecutive MotoGP pole, a streak that began in Aragon. The mark ties its longest streak since 2008 with Catalunya's Casey Stoner in San Marino…

Enea Bastianini qualified in second position, his best qualification since moving to MotoGP last year, as well as his first front row in the class. He will attempt to reach the podium for the third time in this category since San Marino and Emilia-Romagna last year, where he was third.

Marc Marquez qualified in third position and thus returns to the front row since his third place last year in Austin. This is his seventh consecutive front row at Lusail in MotoGP. On his previous six front rows on the circuit, he had four podiums, including a victory in 2014, his only achievement on the circuit in MotoGP. This Sunday, Marc Marquez will aim to reach the podium for the 100th time in MotoGP.

Jack Miller qualified in fourth position, which is the fourth consecutive time that he has started from the first two rows of the grid. His best result at Lusail in MotoGP is eighth place in 2017 riding a Honda. Aleix Espargaró qualified in fifth position, which is the best qualifying result for an Aprilia rider at Lusail so far in MotoGP. He will try to give Aprilia its second podium since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002, as well as that of Silverstone last year where he was third.

Pol Espargaro qualified sixth for his best qualification at Lusail since moving to MotoGP in 2014. Brad Binder qualified in seventh position as the highest placed KTM rider, which is the best qualifying result for the Austrian manufacturer in this category at this circuit. Joan mir qualified in eighth position as the best Suzuki rider, which is his best qualifying result at Lusail. He will try to give Suzuki its first MotoGP podium on the circuit. Francesco Bagnaia, who was on pole position last year at the Qatar Grand Prix, qualified in ninth position. This is his worst place on the grid since Germany last year, where he was 10th.

In Q1 for the fourth time since switching to MotoGP in 2019, the 2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo qualified in 11th position in Q2 for his worst qualifying result at Lusail in MotoGP. It is also the first time that he has failed to qualify in the first two rows on the circuit in this category. With Quarterly as the highest placed Yamaha rider on the grid in 11th position, this is the first time there has been no Yamaha rider in the top 10 on the grid since Aragon in 2018.

Johann zarco, who finished second twice last year at Lusail, failed to enter Q2 and qualified in 13th position. It is his worst qualification since his 16th place at the Aragon Grand Prix in 2020. He will try to reach the podium for the first time since Catalunya last year, where he was second.

What will this first race of the season have in store for us? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Qatar MotoGP™	2021	2022
FP1	1'54.779 Aleix Espargaró (See here)	1'54.851 Brad Binder (See here)
FP2	1'53.145 Jack Miller (See here)	1'53.432 Alex Rins (See here)
FP3	1'56.064 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'53.790 Enea Bastianini (See here)
FP4	1'54.543 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'54.420 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q1	1'53.931 Joan Mir (See here)	1'53.512 Brad Binder (See here)
Q2	1'53.106 Jorge Martín (See here)	1'53.011 Jorge Martín (See here)
Warm up	1'54.482 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'54.519 Enea Bastianini (See here)
Course	Quartararo, Zarco, Martin (See here)	Bastianini, Binder, P. Espargaro (See here)
All time lap record	1'52.772 Francesco Bagnaia 2021 (See here)

23.9° in the air and 30.7° on the track are the evening conditions offered to the 24 drivers for this 22-lap race. While waiting for the big battle, here are live images…

To your predictions!

Reminder of the grid:

Michelin's choice for this race in Qatar: 

The wild animals are unleashed: at the end of the first turn it is Marquez who comes out in the lead in front of Pol Espargaró. Pol Espargaró, however, quickly gets the better of it.

First top5: Pol Espargaro, M. Marquez, Binder, Mir, Bastianini

Quartararo is 8th, Zarco is in 19th place.

The positions change little, Pol Espargaro begins to gain distance from his teammate.

Quartararo, followed by Rins, passes, he drops back to 9th position.

Top10 after 4 rounds: Pol Espargaró, M.Marquez, Binder, Mir, Bastianini, Aleix Espargaró, Martin, Rins, Quartararo and Bagnaia. 

Bastianini, very fit, passes Mir and MMarquez in turn, he takes 3rd position.

Bezzecchi falls, Miller to the pits. Technical problem? The latter gives up.

New top10 with 14 laps to go: Pol Espargaró, Binder, Bastianini, MMarquez, Aleix Espargaro, Mir, Rins, Bagnaia and Quartararo. Zarco is 14th.

In front, Pol Espargaro is rolling!

Alex Marquez falls in turn 1. Oliveira also makes a mistake, he falls in the same corner.

Fall of Bagnaia which drags Martin down with it!

There are 10 laps remaining in this first race of the season, and Pol Espargaró is holding on at the front. He largely dominates. Binder, Bastianini, MMarquez, Aleix Espargaro, Mir, Rins, Quartararo, Zarco and Nakagami complete the march of this top10

Bastianini gets the better of Binder, the Gresini driver takes 2nd position. Will MMarquez imitate him?

There are 7 laps remaining, MMarquez cannot get back on Binder. Bastianini continues his effort to catch up with Pol Espargaro, he is 8 tenths behind the Honda driver.

Aleix Espargaró, very fast, attempts an attack on the Honda driver, MMarquez, but it doesn't work for the moment. He ends up passing, he takes 4th position.

With 5 laps to go, Pol Espargaro is in the lead, ahead of Bastianini, Binder, Aleix Espargaro and MMarquez. 

Bastianini, faster, knocks out Pol Espargaro's Honda. Big mistake from Pol which benefits Binder who takes 2nd position.

2 more laps, the top10 is as follows: Bastianini, Binder, Pol Espargaro, Aleix Espargaro, MMarquez, Mir, Rins, Quartararo, Zarco and Nakagami. 1st rookie Darryn Binder in 15th position. 

Emotion…in the Gresini camp!

Victory for Bastianini ahead of Binder and Pol Espargaró!

At the finish line, Zarco passes Quartararo and thus takes 8th position. 

MotoGP Qatar Race: classification

Credit classification motogp.com