Jorge Martin, who finished second in the MotoGP 2023, continued his impressive streak of performances in the sprint races at the beginning of the 2024 season. He led the race from start to finish in the opening race in Qatar.
Marc Marquez, making his debut for Ducati, finished fifth in his first race with the 2023 specification Desmosedici. Rookie Pedro Acosta also had a respectable debut, securing eighth place.
Martin, who won seven of the last eight sprint races in 2023, maintained his lead from pole position and controlled his pace in the early stages of the 11-lap race. He then made a crucial break in the middle of the race, ensuring his rivals couldn’t catch up to him.
Brad Binder, riding for KTM, moved up to second position early on and pressured Martin in the early stages. However, he ultimately settled for second place behind Martin.
The real battles were happening behind the leaders. Aleix Espargaro initially lost position to Enea Bastianini, but quickly regained it before being overtaken by reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia three laps later.
Marquez, who was making his way through the pack, also passed Espargaro but made a mistake on the eighth lap while chasing Bagnaia. This allowed Espargaro to regain his position.
Espargaro then caught up to Bagnaia and tried to pass him at Turn 4 on the penultimate lap. Although he went off track and Bagnaia retook the position, Espargaro managed to make the pass on the final corner.
Bagnaia couldn’t keep up with Espargaro’s pace towards the end of the race and finished behind him, narrowly holding off Marquez to secure fourth place.
Bastianini, Bagnaia’s teammate, was the sixth rider in the leading group of six. He finished 2.3 seconds behind the winner and eight tenths ahead of Alex Marquez, who is also part of the Gresini team.
The top seven positions were dominated by Ducatis, with five of them finishing among the top nine. The other two positions among the top nine were taken by rookie Acosta (Tech3 Gas Gas) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), both recovering after losing positions at the start.
Jack Miller, riding for KTM, gained ground at the start of the race but struggled to maintain his position. He dropped from sixth to ninth place on the second lap and was also overtaken by Vinales. Miller, who used the soft front tire instead of the medium one, finished outside the points but managed to hold onto tenth place ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati).
Fabio Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi’s teammate, was in seventh place when he suffered a high-speed crash coming out of Turn 10. He was lucky not to be hit by other riders and emerged unscathed from the incident, although he was left breathless by the impact.
Among the Japanese manufacturers, Fabio Quartararo was the highest-placed Yamaha rider in twelfth place, while Joan Mir was the top Honda rider in fifteenth place.
