MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix: What we learned after Friday practice

MotoGP title-deciders are uncomfortable experiences for those at the forefront for a number of reasons. But there hasn’t been a potential championship-deciding race held under such circumstances as the 2026 Qatar Grand Prix.

Suzuki and Joan Mir faced the unprecedented scenario of their championship-deciding Valencia Grand Prix in 2020 being derailed by a positive COVID-19 test.

But never has an active war threatened a rider’s potential coronation in the MotoGP World Championship’s nearly 80-year history. That’s the situation Ducati and Marc Marquez face this weekend in Qatar.

After a week of increasingly aggressive back-and-forth between the riders - 19 of whom signed a letter stating they did not want to race in Qatar - and MotoGP, the championship’s strong-arming over contracts and a threat of sanctions had its desired effect: the paddock, for the most part reluctantly, is in Lusail.

Almost, anyway. Yamaha stood firm by its company’s Middle East travel policy and pulled both of its teams, as well as their four riders, out of the event. Consequences are set to follow, but what those will look like remains to be seen.

Championship leader Marquez arrived late to the paddock on Thursday. He says it was always his intention to get there at the last possible moment, and he intends to leave as soon as he can after Sunday’s grand prix.

This situation is likely to lead to fairly muted celebrations if Marquez does win the championship on Sunday night.

For the time being, thankfully, all has gone off without a problem. That’s nothing MotoGP, nor the race organisers, can take much credit for. The Republicans took a hammering in this week’s mid-term elections in the US. Senior members of the party are openly blaming the war in Iran for their defeat in Democrats taking back control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

That’s likely played into wider reports of talks of mediation between Iran and the US kicking up a gear over the last few days. President Trump hasn’t ruled out fresh strikes on Iran, but the anticipated intense escalation in the conflict, which forced the Qatar Grand Prix from its original April slot, has not arrived.

MotoGP, for now, has been lucky. But wars are not predictable, and there is still a long way to go before the paddock can get itself out of the danger zone.

Bezzecchi is stepping up on his must-win weekend

The maths for Marquez to win the championship this weekend is pretty simple: he must outscore Jorge Martin by 30 points, and gain eight points over Marco Bezzecchi.

It’s something of a tragedy that Bezzecchi, 102 points clear of Marquez after an Italian Grand Prix win in May that strengthened his grip on the championship lead, now faces elimination from contention by such a meagre amount.

But he’s not going down without a fight. Throughout both sessions, Bezzecchi looked to be in a groove on his RS-GP. The Qatar track suits the RS-GP and Bezzecchi was strong, albeit cautious.

“There is still a lot to do in the time attack, but we also need to try to find a little consistency and precision in terms of pace,” he summarised at the end of Practice. He’s right that he needs to find a bit in time attack, but not much. He was 0.260s off the pace set by Fabio Di Giannantonio, and even closer to Marquez.

Consistency was something all Aprilia riders seemed to struggle with during their running on Friday. But Bezzecchi was the exception. In our analysis, based on a five-lap stint of representative laps (so no cancelled times or non-push laps) on a fresh soft tyre, he was the quickest of the below table on a 1m51.557s.

While the Ducati duo ahead of him were on the medium tyre, Bezzecchi’s running on a fresh medium was equally as quick. Bezzecchi is looking strong. And, more concerningly, he has absolutely nothing to lose.

Marquez acknowledged this when he spoke about his day: “I mean, still I feel that it’s [the title] far, especially because Bezzecchi, as we see, is pushing and riding in a very good way. [He has] nothing to lose; he will push all the weekend.”

There’s a lot to be said about how the pressure of battling Marquez for a title ultimately crumbled Bezzecchi’s hopes as this season unfolded. Equally, however, when there was no pressure of a championship charge on his shoulders in those early rounds, the Italian was absolutely magical.

He’s unlikely to win the title, but he can certainly delay Marquez’s bid in Qatar, while reminding everyone of what he is still capable of - and can be capable of in 2027, providing he has learned some valuable lessons.

Martin’s perseverance remains admirable

Jorge Martin left the Lusail circuit in an ambulance the last time he visited the track in 2025, after suffering injuries he thought would kill him. Now he returns, albeit battered and bruised, with a MotoGP title on the line.

Admittedly, it’s a title charge that is slipping away from him. The wrist injury he picked up in Australia has healed to the point where he can use his toothbrush again and, more importantly, ride an Aprilia RS-GP with some decent speed.

Martin was seventh at the end of the day. Typically this season, we’ve seen a slower start for Martin on Fridays before he makes a big step on Saturday. That will likely be the case again, though his wrist will be the limiting factor.

His race running is hard to read, as his runs in Practice were highly inconsistent. As such, his 1m52.751s average likely isn’t representative, but he is also playing catch-up to Bezzecchi and the Ducatis ahead of him.

The crash itself from Phillip Island is continuing to have an impact on him: “The loss of confidence after the crash in Australia has been significant. This morning, although the feeling wasn’t bad, I didn’t have that extra bit of power to push in the corners,” he said.

That feeling did improve, but it also suggests that another fall could just dent his confidence again at the worst possible moment.

At this stage, if he keeps Marquez’s points haul to below 30, he is largely going to be delaying the inevitable. However, an extra week to recover his wrist before going to a track in Portimao that he is strong at, Marquez isn’t, and the Aprilia suits well, you just never know what might happen.

If Ducati has team orders, now may be the time to enforce them

Marquez’s double in Qatar last year was a significant early moment in the 2025 season and his march to a seventh MotoGP title.

This time around, it holds even more significance as the place where he could beat Valentino Rossi’s tally of seven titles and become the 10-time champion across all classes the former believes was an accolade stolen from him by Marquez in 2015.

Ironically, Marquez may be denied his coronation in Qatar by two VR46-affiliated Ducati riders.

Fabio Di Giannantonio has been battling a considerable power deficit, with his VR46 team reckoning he’s down about 30hp, which is costing him 10-12km/h on the straights. He hid it pretty well on Friday, as he led the way with a new lap record.

Qatar is a great circuit for Di Giannantonio, who scored a career-saving maiden victory in 2023 on a Gresini-run Ducati. His race running was very similar to Marquez’s on Friday, with the latter slightly faster.

I think we lost some sense of what Marquez’s pace should look like due to the broken chain he suffered midway through Practice. But Di Giannantonio is very much in the game. As is Pecco Bagnaia, somewhat more surprisingly.

For just the second time this side of the summer break, Bagnaia earned direct passage into Q2. Over a single lap, Bagnaia is a front row threat right now, having ended the day fourth overall. In terms of race pace, he’s on the same level as Di Giannantonio and Marquez.

The subject of team orders has been a hot topic across Aprilia and Ducati lately. There has been no suggestion from either camp that team orders are on the table.

However, if ever there was a weekend to deploy them, Ducati may want to start seriously considering a plan given Marquez doesn’t appear to be the clear leading rider for the brand right now…