DOHA: The two Spanish riders, Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez, exchanged wins in the first and second free trials of the Qatar Airways Grand Prix, which constitutes the opening round of the 75th edition of the MotoGP World Championship for the 2024 season hosted by Losail International Circuit over three days under floodlights.
Spaniard Jorge Martin, rider of the Prima Pramac team, was able to win the first free trial title after setting the fastest lap time of 1.52.624 minutes after 17 laps, ahead of his closest competitor, Spaniard Aleix Espargaro, rider of the Aprilia team, by 0.047 seconds, who was the second place holder with a time of 1.52.671 minutes.
The Spaniard Pedro Acosta, the Red Bull KTM team rider, took third place with a time of 1:52.695 minutes, while the Spanish eight-time world champion Marc Marquez, the Honda team rider, took fourth place with a time of 1:52.801 minutes, while the South African Brad Bender, the KTM team rider, is in the top five after recording a time of 1.52.889 minutes.
The French drivers, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo), the Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro), the Australian Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), and the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), took the positions from sixth to tenth, respectively.
In the second free trial, the Spaniard Marc Marquez, a Honda team rider, won after recording the fastest lap time of 2:06.544 minutes, 0.290 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, the Spaniard Augusto Fernandez, a Red Bull team rider, who was second in time. It is 2.06.834 minutes.
The Spanish Pedro Acosta, the Red Bull KTM Team rider, finished third with a time of 2:06.938 minutes, while the Australian Jack Miller, the Red Bull KTM Team rider, came in third place with a time of 2:07:263 minutes, while the South African Brad Bender of the KTM team ranked in the top five after recording a time of 2:07:345 minutes.
In the Moto 2 category, Spanish cyclist Jaume Masia won the first free trial race, which witnessed the participation of 30 riders, after recording the fastest lap time of 2.14.891 minutes.
Masia was 1.007 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, the Dutch driver Bo Bindsneider, who was in second place with a time of 2:15.898 minutes, while the Spanish Javier Artigas came in third place with a time of 2:16.882 minutes.
As for the Moto 3 category, Spanish cyclist Daniel Holgado won the title of the free trial race, which witnessed the participation of 26 riders, after occupying first place after recording the fastest lap time of 2:03:636 minutes.
Holgado was 0.063 seconds ahead of Spanish cyclist Adrian Fernandez, who ranked second with a time of 2:03.669 minutes, while Italian cyclist Matteo Bertil ranked third with a time of 2:03.775 minutes.
As for the Qatar Super Stock Motorcycle Championship, the first round of which was held on the sidelines of the Qatar Airways Grand Prix, the 600cc category witnessed cyclist Abdullah Al Qubaisi achieving the title of the first free trial race, which witnessed the participation of 27 riders, after he occupied first place after recording the fastest time. per lap and is 2.06.012 minutes.
Al Qubaisi surpassed cyclist Meshaal Al Nuaimi, who ranked second with a time of 2:06.117 minutes, by 0.105 seconds, while cyclist Saeed Al Sulaiti ranked third with a time of 2:06.357 minutes.
In the 300cc category, Qatari cyclist Yousef Al-Sulaiti was able to lead the first free trialafter taking first place, ahead of Egyptian Mahmoud Al-Banna, who ranked second, and Italian Edoardo Pia, who finished third.
