Qatar GP: Francesco Bagnaia dominates to kick off MotoGP World Championship title defence in style

Defending world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) stormed to victory in the opening Grand Prix of the 2024 season in Qatar.

The Ducati rider claimed the lead off pole-sitter Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) on the opening lap and didn't look back from there.

"We work in silence," Bagnaia said in parc ferme. "We knew our potential and tried to do the maximum yesterday, knowing that it was important to change something for today's race. And what we did this morning in the warm-up was important.

"The race was absolutely, completely different, compared to yesterday. I tried to manage it in a different way and it worked, so I'm very happy. Now we move on to Portimao with another step forward with the new bike."

Pole-sitter Martin took the holeshot at lights out, but already on Lap 1, Bagnaia barged his way past his Ducati colleague with an aggressive move to take the lead. Behind, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) also claimed Martin for runner-up spot.

The top group stayed together for the opening third of the race, but Bagnaia pulled the pin on Lap 9 and created a gap of around a second over the course of just a couple of sectors. Martin challenged Binder to try hunt down Bagnaia out front, but the KTM rider prevailed and continued to lead the chase.

Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) followed closely in fourth, but rookie sensation Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3) was the rider on form at the halfway stage of the race and made up position after position.

Acosta's charge peaked in fourth place when he made a great move on Marquez stick. However, the Ducati rider retaliated to reclaim the position and from there, Acosta continued to drop down the order.

Out front, Bagnaia continued to manage his one-second advantage and was in cruise control.

Binder looked similarly comfortable in second while Martin and Marquez were engaged in a battle for the final podium spot. However, Martin found an extra gear on the penultimate lap.

The Spaniard quickly dropped Marquez and started to reel in Binder, but the KTM rider responded to hang on to the position.

"I'm super stoked with the result today," Binder said. "Today, we knew going in it was going to be tough to make the tyres go to the end. I'm surprised we managed it so well, to be honest. I tried to get so close to Pecco [Bagnaia] but he did an unreal job, didn't make one mistake the entire race and hats off to him.

"Thank you to my team; they did an amazing job, my bike was next level today compared to yesterday again."

Martin, meanwhile, had to settle for third. "Today was a difficult race," he admitted. "I started quite well, but then straight away I was struggling to manage the tyre and Pecco [Bagnaia] was pushing a bit more at that point.

"The pace was really fast, really fast compared to last season. I was trying to control the rear grip, trying to manage for the end. And then when I saw Marc [Marquez] was coming and I was in a one-to-one battle, I tried to push a lot. He was pushing so much, but I was able to push and make a gap and almost try a move on Brad [Binder].

"But, finally, P3 and yesterday's win is a lot of points for the weekend, so I'm pleased and really looking forward to the next one."

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) found great pace in the late stages and made his way up into fifth, getting the better of Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) quietly but surely progressed into seventh while pre-race favourite Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) never recovered from a poor start.

Acosta concluded the race in ninth while Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the top 10.

A few eyebrows will have been raised yesterday when defending world champion Bagnaia missed the podium in the opening Sprint of the season.

However, the Italian bounced back in style. Making no mistake over the course of the 21 laps, Bagnaia made an undisputed return to the top step of the podium and leaves Qatar as championship leader.

1/21: MARTIN HOLDS LEAD - Smashing start again from Martin who takes the holeshot. Bagnaia prevails in a battle with Binder for second.

1/21: BAGNAIA INTO THE LEAD - The defending world champion pulls off an aggressive move to overtake Martin for the lead. Meanwhile, it's all going wrong for Espargaro who has dropped to ninth.

9/21: BAGNAIA PULLS THE PIN - The defending champion has stepped things up a notch and increased his advantage to around a second over the course of a few sectors.

12/21: ACOSTA INTO FOURTH - Unreal from Acosta who attacks Marc Marquez going into Turn 1 and makes the move stick to take fourth.

16/21: GAPS OPEN AMONG TOP THREE - Gaps of around a second now separate Bagnaia from Binder, and Binder from his two chasers Martin and Marc Marquez. It's game on for third though.

20/21: MARTIN PULLS THE PIN - Martin has found an extra gear here as he quickly drops Marc Marquez behind him and closes in on Binder for second.

21/21: BAGNAIA WINS IN QATAR - The defending champion controls his advantage well and takes victory in Qatar. Binder manages to hold Martin at bay and brings runner-up home.

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