Surprise Ducati pacesetter on Qatar MotoGP Friday
VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio set the pace to end Friday practice at the Qatar Grand Prix, delivering a new record lap in the process.
Di Giannantonio led points leader Marc Marquez by 0.142s in a Ducati 1-2. The Italian is a known Lusail specialist, having taken his sole MotoGP win so far at the track back in 2023.
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and a resurgent Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) completed the top four. Bezzecchi's three Aprilia peers - Raul Fernandez, Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura - all secured automatic Q2 spots within the top 10, too, though it was a close call for Ogura.
Other direct spots in Q2 were picked up by Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Brad Binder (KTM).
For once, Pedro Acosta had no answer to his fellow KTMs and was only 14th. He now faces the possibility of being outqualified by a team-mate for the first time ever in MotoGP, should he fail to advance from Q1 tomorrow.
It was a notably credible first day as a Honda MotoGP rider for Jake Dixon, standing in for Joan Mir.
Dixon lapped 1.987s off the pace in the end, just two tenths back from out-of-sorts LCR Honda regular Diogo Moreira.
Session results
1 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) 1m50.406s
2 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.142s
3 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.260s
4 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.386s
5 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.608s
6 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +0.618s
7 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +0.635s
8 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +0.895s
9 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.912s
10 Brad Binder (KTM) +1.003s
11 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +1.041s
12 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1.078s
13 Luca Marini (Honda) +1.142s
14 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +1.169s
15 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +1.247s
16 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +1.324s
17 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +1.786s
18 Jake Dixon (Honda) +1.987s
