Fabio Di Giannantonio set a lap record to top evening practice at the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail on Friday. The VR46 Ducati rider edged world championship leader Marc Marquez by 0.142 seconds after putting on a soft rear tyre midway through the session, as reported by Autosport.com.
Practice Highlights and Top Contenders
Second-fastest Marc Marquez secured his direct progression into Qualifying 2 despite spending more time than most riders focused on race set-up. The Ducati rider suffered an early mishap when his chain flew off his primary bike with roughly 27 minutes remaining, but quickly resumed his pace on his second machine. Meanwhile, title challenger Jorge Martin navigated the session safely to finish seventh-fastest. The factory Aprilia rider completed a full day of running after being cleared fit ahead of Free Practice 1, despite experiencing pain from a broken right wrist. Marco Bezzecchi, the third rider in mathematical title contention, claimed the third-fastest time on his factory Aprilia.
Grid Standings and Surprises
Francesco Bagnaia bounced back from a recent difficult run by clocking the fourth-quickest time to join team-mate Marquez near the front. In contrast, Pedro Acosta struggled significantly on the factory KTM, failing to trouble the top 10 and finishing 14th-fastest over a second off the pace. Other KTM machines fared better, with Enea Bastianini taking sixth for Tech3 and Brad Binder finishing 10th for the factory team. Both Trackhouse Aprilias advanced to Q2 as Raul Fernandez placed fifth and Ai Ogura ninth. Johann Zarco represented Honda alone as the eighth-fastest rider for LCR, while teammate Diogo Moreira ended up 17th in an 18-strong field missing the Yamaha quartet. Joan Mir’s factory team substitute, Jake Dixon, recorded the slowest time of the session.
