News Summary
- Francesco Bagnaia admitted he was worried about travelling to Qatar before arriving for Thursday’s media day.
- The Ducati rider said organisers had met almost all of the riders’ requests and identified a possible airport closure as his remaining concern.
- MotoGP is proceeding with the November 6–8 weekend after a security review. Yamaha’s factory and Pramac teams have withdrawn.
Francesco Bagnaia arrived at Lusail with a different question from the one that had hung over the Qatar Grand Prix for weeks. With MotoGP going ahead and riders already at the circuit, the Ducati rider was thinking about how the paddock would get home if the airport closed. He admitted on Thursday that he had been uneasy about travelling to Qatar in the first place, even after deciding to put his trust in the people running the event.
“I was a bit worried,” Bagnaia told reporters at Lusail, as quoted by Autosport. The two-time MotoGP world champion said he had placed his trust in the championship promoter, the event organisers, the teams’ association IRTA and the Qatari government. “They have provided us with almost everything we asked for.”
Bagnaia said the atmosphere at the circuit felt much as he had expected. Speaking to reporters, he drew a distinction between how he felt at Lusail and the possibility of the paddock losing its route out of the country.
“The only fear we can have is to get stuck here if they close the airport,” he said.
Why leaving Qatar was already on the riders’ minds
The airport scenario was among the questions riders had raised before travelling. As the championship reviewed whether to go ahead with the event, riders sought answers on insurance and emergency evacuation. They wanted to know what arrangements would apply if the situation changed during the weekend, including what would happen if airspace closed and paddock personnel could no longer leave as planned.
The emergency shelter guidance circulated at Lusail addresses a separate part of that planning. The seven-point document reported on Thursday sets out what to do if an alert is issued at the circuit, at a hotel or while travelling. Bagnaia’s concern was what would happen to onward travel if the airport were to close.
The round was originally scheduled for April and moved to November because of the conflict in the Middle East. MotoGP management met teams at Sepang on Sunday as part of its review, which drew on information from Qatari authorities, the circuit, embassies and independent experts. Yamaha’s factory and Pramac teams withdrew under the manufacturer’s travel restrictions, removing four bikes from the field.
Bagnaia and Viñales explain why they travelled
Bagnaia framed his decision to come as a matter of trust in the organisers and the arrangements they had made. Maverick Viñales had emphasised a different consideration in the build-up, saying riders could face a penalty if they refused to race in Qatar. KTM’s Pedro Acosta also spoke about riders’ obligations on Thursday, while describing his arrival in Qatar as uneventful.
Thursday’s press conference was pushed back four hours to accommodate later arrivals. The published Qatar Grand Prix track schedule has the premier class starting FP1 at 14:45 local time on Friday, with the session that decides direct entry to Q2 at 19:00. Sunday’s Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 19:00 local time.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the Qatar Grand Prix in MotoGP.
