MotoGP Practice Results | Injured Martin stuns, Marquez denied 1st
Martin may delay Marquez's celebrations (Credit: Apex Agency)
Updated:
1 Comments
Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
Jorge Martin again surprised at the Qatar Grand Prix, advancing straight to Q2 having been unable to even take part in the session a week ago.
The championship contender managed a top 10 finished, taking seventh despite racing with a broken wrist.
Championship leader Marc Marquez, who is 37 points ahead of him, went second, with VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in first with a new lap record of 1:50.40.
The third man in the title fight, Marco Bezzecchi, was just behind the pair in third.
Martin broke his wrist two weeks ago, battling with Marquez for the Sprint Race lead in Phillip Island.
ADVERTISEMENT
It looked like his title hopes were over, particularly when he tried and failed to race a week later in Malaysia.
However, with another week of recovery behind him, Martin has already surpassed many expectations, not just setting a proper time, but making it straight through to Q2.
Earlier in the day Martin took fifth in free practice, and now looks set to at least delay Marquez's title celebrations to the next round in Portugal.
Marquez needs to take 30 points more than Martin and eight more than Bezzecchi to clinch the title in Qatar, a far tougher task now Martin looks set to compete for points.
MotoGP Qatar Full Practice Results
ADVERTISEMENT
| Position | Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | 49 F. Di Giannantonio | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:50.40 |
| 2 | 93 M. Marquez | Ducati Lenovo Team | 1:50.54 |
| 3 | 72 M. Bezzecchi | Aprilia Racing | 1:50.66 |
| 4 | 63 F. Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | 1:50.79 |
| 5 | 25 R. Fernandez | SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:51.01 |
| 6 | 23 E. Bastianini | Red Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:51.02 |
| 7 | 89 J. Martin | Aprilia Racing | 1:51.04 |
| 8 | 5 J. Zarco | Castrol Honda LCR | 1:51.30 |
| 9 | 79 A. Ogura | SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:51.31 |
| 10 | 33 B. Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:51.40 |
| Taking part in Q1 | |||
| 11 | 54 F. Aldeguer | BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:51.44 |
| 12 | 21 F. Morbidelli | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:51.48 |
| 13 | 10 L. Marini | Honda HRC Castrol | 1:51.54 |
| 14 | 37 P. Acosta | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:51.57 |
| 15 | 12 M. Viñales | Red Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:51.65 |
| 16 | 27 I. Lecuona | BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:51.73 |
| 17 | 11 D. Moreira | Pro Honda LCR | 1:52.19 |
| 18 | 96 J. Dixon | Honda HRC Castrol | 1:52.39 |
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google
