News Summary
- Fabio Di Giannantonio set a 1:50.406 in the closing minutes of Friday Practice to break the outright MotoGP lap record at Lusail and lead Marc Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi.
- Márquez finished second after his Ducati’s chain broke early in the second half of the session. Bezzecchi had led with a 1:50.694 before Di Giannantonio’s final run.
- Jorge Martín went straight into Q2 in seventh after being cleared to ride in Qatar following a wrist fracture. Diogo Moreira finished 17th and will start Saturday qualifying in Q1.
Fabio Di Giannantonio broke the outright MotoGP lap record at Lusail on Friday night, setting a 1:50.406 in the closing minutes of Qatar Grand Prix Practice to beat Marc Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi. The VR46 rider took 0.093s off Márquez’s previous record, set in 2024, and reclaimed the lead from Bezzecchi just as the field went out for its final attempts to secure a place in Q2.
Márquez had led the afternoon’s FP1 and finished second under the floodlights despite a broken chain that interrupted his running. Bezzecchi, who repeatedly lowered the benchmark for Aprilia, ended up third. His team-mate Jorge Martín finished seventh, securing direct entry to Q2 on his first day back on track after withdrawing from the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend with a fractured wrist.
Bezzecchi brings the benchmark down before VR46 hits back
The hour began in dry conditions, with the air temperature at 33°C and the track at 47°C. There were four fewer bikes than usual after Yamaha withdrew its factory and Pramac entries under company-wide travel restrictions. Gresini ran Iker Lecuona in place of Álex Márquez, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, while Jake Dixon took over from Joan Mir at Honda.
Johann Zarco set the first benchmark with a 1:52.847. Di Giannantonio lowered it to 1:52.643, while Márquez had his first effort deleted for exceeding track limits. Márquez moved up to second with a 1:52.462 on a subsequent run, but by then Bezzecchi was about to take the session into the 1:51s. The Aprilia rider set a 1:51.807 and trimmed it to 1:51.764 shortly afterwards.
With about 40 minutes left, Ai Ogura fitted a fresh soft rear tyre and moved up to second with a 1:52.002. Bezzecchi then found more than half a second on his own best to set a 1:51.182. Di Giannantonio responded with a 1:51.104, just 0.078s faster, putting VR46 back on top before the session reached its final runs.
Márquez loses his chain as the pace drops into the 1:50s
Márquez was fifth early in the second half of the session when the chain on his Ducati GP26 broke during a flying-lap attempt. With no drive to the rear wheel, he had to push the bike along with his feet while still sitting on it to get back to the garage.
The session moved on while Ducati dealt with the problem. Di Giannantonio, Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia occupied the top three before Bezzecchi put Aprilia back in front with a 1:50.694. That was the time to beat as riders returned to the pits for their final adjustments with around ten minutes left.
Di Giannantonio took another 0.288s off Bezzecchi’s benchmark on his final run. His 1:50.406 held to the flag, while Márquez recovered to second and pushed Bezzecchi down to third.
Martín avoids Q1 on his return from injury
Martín had been cleared to ride after a Friday medical assessment and finished fifth in the afternoon’s FP1. Seventh in the evening carried a greater reward. It put him among the ten riders who go directly into Q2, sparing him an extra qualifying session on Saturday as he continues his return from injury.
Diogo Moreira found an early improvement on his afternoon best, lowering his time from 1:54.069 to 1:53.858 during the first part of the night session. He was 16th at that stage and finished 17th for LCR Honda. He will now need one of the two transfer places from Q1 to reach the final qualifying session.
2026 Qatar MotoGP Practice results
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap | Qualifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F. DI GIANNANTONIO | VR46 Ducati | 1:50.406 | — | Q2 |
| 2 | M. MÁRQUEZ | Ducati | 1:50.548 | +0.142 | Q2 |
| 3 | M. BEZZECCHI | Aprilia | 1:50.666 | +0.260 | Q2 |
| 4 | F. BAGNAIA | Ducati | 1:50.792 | +0.386 | Q2 |
| 5 | R. FERNÁNDEZ | Trackhouse Aprilia | 1:51.014 | +0.608 | Q2 |
| 6 | E. BASTIANINI | Tech3 KTM | 1:51.024 | +0.618 | Q2 |
| 7 | J. MARTÍN | Aprilia | 1:51.041 | +0.635 | Q2 |
| 8 | J. ZARCO | LCR Honda | 1:51.301 | +0.895 | Q2 |
| 9 | A. OGURA | Trackhouse Aprilia | 1:51.318 | +0.912 | Q2 |
| 10 | B. BINDER | KTM | 1:51.409 | +1.003 | Q2 |
| 11 | F. ALDEGUER | Gresini | 1:51.447 | +1.041 | Q1 |
| 12 | F. MORBIDELLI | VR46 Ducati | 1:51.484 | +1.078 | Q1 |
| 13 | L. MARINI | Honda | 1:51.548 | +1.142 | Q1 |
| 14 | P. ACOSTA | KTM | 1:51.575 | +1.169 | Q1 |
| 15 | M. VIÑALES | Tech3 KTM | 1:51.653 | +1.247 | Q1 |
| 16 | I. LECUONA | Gresini | 1:51.730 | +1.324 | Q1 |
| 17 | D. MOREIRA | LCR Honda | 1:52.192 | +1.786 | Q1 |
| 18 | J. DIXON | Honda | 1:52.393 | +1.987 | Q1 |
MotoGP returns to the track on Saturday, November 7, for FP2 at 14:00 in Qatar (11:00 GMT, 16:30 IST, 22:00 AEDT). Q1 begins 40 minutes later. See the full Qatar MotoGP schedule and international start times.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the Qatar Grand Prix in MotoGP.
