World champion Francesco Bagnaia stormed into the lead in the opening lap of the Qatar Grand Prix and held it until the end in a dominant start to the 2024 season. The Italian bossed the curtain-raising race from start to finish, while behind him Brad Binder got the better of Jorge Martin as they finished second and third respectively. Marc Marquez’s Ducati debut ended with a fourth-place finish.
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.
“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
