Late charge puts Morbidelli on top in Qatar GP practice

Franco Morbidelli struck as time expired in the second practice on Friday at the Qatar MotoGP to edge the duelling factory Ducatis of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez at the Lusail International Circuit.

Championship leader Alex Marquez was fifth while Jorge Martin, on his first race-weekend ride for Aprilia, was a careful 20th. Morbidelli finished in 1min 50sec on his VR46 Ducati. Fellow Italian Bagnaia was 0.145sec behind with Marc Marquez at 0.167sec. Martin was 1.568 slower.

The VR46 team has been in fine form in recent weeks, with Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio scoring podiums in Argentina and America respectively. On Friday, Di Giannantonio was fourth and championship leader Alex Marquez was fifth on his Gresini Ducati. Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, on a Yamaha, was the fastest non-Ducati in sixth.

Both Bagnaia and Marquez, sure of a top ten time and direct pass to Saturday’s second qualifying round, opted not to change tyres during the final session. That meant they were effectively spectators as other riders launched late time attacks, but they will have more tyre options over the weekend when championship points are at stake.

Bagnaia, the double-world champion, has struggled to keep pace with his new stablemate this season. Marc Marquez had won all three sprints and two Sunday grand prix until he crashed while leading the last race, the Grand Prix of the Americas.

Bagnaia pounced to win in Austin, while Alex Marquez finished second once again to move to the top of the standings. Eight points separate the three riders.

Bagnaia was pleased with his outing on Friday. ‘I’m happy about it, because all the work we have been doing since the first session in Thailand is giving us some happiness. Because we are working hard, we are taking little steps in every sessions, and in Austin we took a big step for the first time. And Saturday we took another step. So, I’m happy,” he said.

Bagnaia riding style is suited for the Lusail circuit and the Italian confidence remained high on Friday. “My confidence was very high, I was able to push, to feel the limit, which is something that is more difficult to feel. So, it was the best Friday, the best sessions since the start of the season, and we just have to keep going like this,” the Italian added.

In the morning, Marc Marquez dominated, more than half a second ahead of Di Giannantonio. At the back of the field, reigning champion Martin trailed in 20th out of 22 bikes, 1.824 seconds slower.

The Spaniard, who switched teams in the summer, broke his right hand and foot in a crash during pre-season testing in Malaysia in February and then broke his left hand as he prepared to return. He missed the first three races of the season.

“We were all a bit nervous about this debut,” Massimo Rivola, the Aprilia sports director, said after the first session. “At the end it was OK, I’m happy. It was a first run at the end it was not bad. I saw him quite easy on the bike. Quite comfortable on the bike.”

Pedro Acosta was seventh for KTM ahead of Tech3 counterpart Maverick Vinales, while Gresini Ducati rookie Fermin Aldeguer and LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco rounded out the top 10.

Zarco’s late improvement demoted Yamaha’s Alex Rins to 11th, and he’ll face Q1 with the likes of factory Honda duo Luca Marini and Joan Mir, and KTM’s Brad Binder - who crashed at Turn 1 in the closing stages. Jack Miller had a second crash of the day on his Pramac Yamaha late on, which left him 17th, while LCR’s Somkiat Chantra - who was last - fell at the start of the session.

Practice times
(top 10 go straight into second qualifying session on April 12)
1. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 1min 50.830sec (Q)
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) at 0.145sec (Q)
3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Ducati) 0.167 (Q)
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA/Ducati-VR46) 0.299 (Q)
5. Alex Marquez (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.406 (Q)
6. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.463 (Q)z
7. Pedro Acosta (ESP/KTM) 0.561 (Q)
8. Maverick Vinales (ESP/KTM-Tech3) 0.625 (Q)
9. Fermin Aldeguer (ESP/Ducati-Gresini) 0.785 (Q)
10. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda-LCR) 0.806 (Q)
11. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 0.836
12. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 0.945
13. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 0.954
14. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 1.003
15. Ai Ogura (JPN/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 1.118
16. Enea Bastianini (ITA/KTM-Tech3) 1.175
17. Jack Miller (AUS/Yamaha-Pramac) 1.194
18. Raul Fernandez (ESP/Aprilia-Trackhouse) 1.304
19. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA/Aprilia) 1.350
20. Jorge Martin (ESP/Aprilia) 1.568
21. Augusto Fernandez (ESP/Yamaha-Pramac) 1.585
22. Somkiat Chantra (THA/Honda-LCR) 2.180