MotoGP 2022 – Round One – Qatar
MotoGP Rider Quotes
Enea Bastianini – P1
“My feelings are incredible right now. I pushed hard from the start, but the most important thing was to save the tyre for the end of the race. I saw Pol pushing hard at the front, but I managed to overtake Binder and then at the end, once I got very close to Pol, I realised that I could try to win the race. I passed him down the straight at turn one and he went wide, so from then on it was all about staying in the lead and take the win home. It’s hard to express my feelings now, but I want to dedicate the win to Fausto because he gave me incredible motivation from above. This is a fantastic result for the whole team: we’re all in tears right now. I’m also very happy for my family at home, so a big thank you goes to everyone who made this possible.”
Brad Binder – P2
“Incredible. If you told me we’d be 2nd in Qatar after the first test I wouldn’t have believed you. Today was a great day, it was a great weekend. I knew we had a good level but I had so much confidence and belief in the bike from beginning to end. We made such a huge step. For us to be on the podium in Qatar is insane. Now we’re looking for more!”
Pol Espargaro – P3
“It’s a great way to start the year, we made an incredible start and we were able to lead most of the race. Honestly speaking, we were not expecting a race like this and with the pace we had, so at the end we were really on the limit. It’s an incredible feeling to start the year like this, of course I am disappointed that when Bastianini passed me I got sucked into the slipstream and I ran wide, dropping to third. But still we have to be pleased to start the year like this at a track where I normally do not go well at and in the past has not been the best track for Honda. I wanted to show my potential and today I was able to do it. Much of the glory today has to go to Honda HRC, for all their hard work over the winter in Japan to build this new bike and allowing me to show my true potential.”
Aleix Espargaró – P4
“Coming so close to the podium and missing it may seem like a disappointment, but I am extremely satisfied with our weekend and today’s race. The times show that I was one of the fastest on the track. Unfortunately, I lost a few fundamental tenths battling with Marc and Joan. And in the end, I think that our tyre situation was better than my brother’s and Brad’s, but a small mistake on turn 4 kept me from attempting an attack in the finale. In any case, Aprilia is in the mix – we’re in it! It will be an extraordinary championship where we’ll certainly be able to battle with the top riders and the best manufacturers in the world.”
Marc Marquez – P5
“Honestly speaking the pace today was just too fast, the speed coming from Pol and the guys at the front was amazing. I did my maximum today and managed everything we had to, it’s the start of a new season and I thought to start with a top five is good for today. Today was not our day as I was struggling with the front tyre, so we kept calm. Of course, we need to keep working. I am happy for Pol and really happy for Honda HRC, this result shows all the work they have been doing and the potential of this new bike.”
Joan Mir – P6
“Honestly today has been disappointing, I was expecting more from this race. Our bike has definitely improved and that was clear to us – the rhythm and speed were better than last year. I started out well and I felt good at the beginning of the race, but then I started to lose the feeling with the rear and it became very difficult to make progress, especially in the last laps, and I couldn’t get more than sixth. So, this is something we’ll need to look into, to try and get more grip, for the coming races.”
Alex Rins – P7
“It was a bit strange today, because I suffered a little bit in the first part of the race when it came to overtaking the other riders. But then when I was alone on the track, and wanting to close the gap up to Joan, I pushed a lot but I didn’t feel very good in the corners; So instead of ending in the gravel I wanted to bring the bike home.”
Johann Zarco – P8
“I can’t be completely satisfied, but we brought home some important points and I was able to do many overtake. Yesterday I was a bit unlucky with the yellow flag, and today I had a bad start, but we have understood what we have to work on and now we will focus on that.”
Fabio Quartararo – P9
“I had a good start, but from the start the tyre pressure was super high. That was a bit strange but I pushed to the maximum, and I expected to have a bit better pace. We couldn’t do better than this today. Of course, we had hoped for more today, but my job is to be 100% prepared and focused for every race. I always give my 100% in every position: whether I‘m fighting for the victory or P3, P5, P15. I do my best, regardless of what position I‘m in.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P10
“I started from P16 and I made an amazing start by turn 1 I was in a good position. Then in sector 1 and sector 2, I just lost my line a little and lost positions, but the beginning of the race was good. During the race, I saw a couple of riders crash in front of me, so I just tried to stay calm and make sure I finished the race. We had good pace, the same as in FP4. I’m quite pleased, it was a little bit difficult on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday we finished in the top 10 and I’m happy to see the team smiling. I want to thank all of them. We’ll work really hard to improve our potential in Indonesia.”
Franco Morbidelli – P11
“It was a difficult race. We struggled this weekend in terms of rear grip. That prevented us from having a wonderful performance. Speaking about my race: I had a really poor start. I wasn’t cunning enough to make the right moves in the first laps, and I lost a lot of time. And then when I picked up my pace, I was not so bad. I was close to my maximum, that felt good. The problem is that our maximum was not enough to be on top this weekend. But it’s just the first round. We know Qatar is a particular track and a particular weekend, so we move forward. We keep in mind the problems that we have, and we’ll work on them for sure. But we go to Mandalika with the same energy as always, we will try to do a good job there, and then we‘ll see where we stand there.”
Maverick Viñales – P12
“This is obviously a disappointing result. This is certainly not in line with my expectations or the team’s, but I never had the right feeling with the front end and going into corners. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to get to know this bike better. We had some sensations in the tests that we evidently need to find again. I didn’t make any mistakes in the race and I didn’t have any significant drop in tyre performance, but I didn’t manage to have an incisive pace either. This is neither what we want nor what we know we are able achieve.”
Luca Marini – P13
“I couldn’t expect much from today’s race considering how the weekend went. I can only say that I am satisfied because we solved the problem we had since and I found the usual feelings I had in the pre-season. We have to keep working, especially on the electronics, something is missing in terms of performance to be there with the group. Today it was important to finish the race, collect info and test all the maps to do well in Indonesia. This is a new bike, we have a lot to do, the Championship is long and we need to stay calm. Finally, congratulations to Andrea (Migno) and Celestino (Vietti Ramus) for their wonderful victories for the Academy and the Team! Well done!”
Andrea Dovizioso – P14
“I can’t be happy. At the beginning of the race, I was gaining some positions, but I had a problem with the front pressure, I couldn’t stop the bike, I almost crashed three times and I went out from the track two times. I was losing a lot, but after that when I was alone the pressure becomes acceptable and I was able to push again and start to do a normal lap time. But anyway, my speed is still not good, you have to ride the bike in a specific way or you will use even more of the tyre, even if you are not that fast also. I can’t be satisfied about that, so we have to study and try to understand what we have to do.”
Remy Gardner – P15
“Although it is not where we want to be, it is nice to be getting a MotoGP point. I felt good and fast during the first half of the race. However, I was expecting a bit more speed from the bike and found myself struggling to overtake during the first laps. At one point, I felt capable of catching Maverick Viñales and Andrea Dovizioso, but I had Darren Binder in front of me and I could not get past him. He is coming from the Moto3 class, so he was all over the place, coming back on line without looking, he was wide. It was a disaster and I lost the group. I am hoping to catch up with him to discuss this. Brad Binder did a podium today, so we need to look at his data and what he did in order to help us improve and go faster. It is a great result. Anyway, we finished the race today and we will take experience from it when heading to Mandalika.”
Darryn Binder – P16
“We finished off the first race in Qatar and overall I’m quite happy. It’s been a difficult weekend with loads of learning curve, there’s not a lot of time in a race weekend to get everything together. Yesterday in the Qualifying I messed up, so today I just wanted to take it step by step and learn as much as I could. I got off to quite an ok start, I was pretty fast in the beginning, so I was making some passes and I was pushing too much for a couple of laps. By lap five I needed to take a step back and find my feet because I had a long race ahead of me. I had a nice battle with Remy (Gardner), I really enjoyed fighting with the rookies, I learned so much throughout the race and by the end, I really wanted to fight for 15th, for the point, but I just missed out. Overall, at least I finished the race, I got 22 laps under my belt now, I know what to expect for next weekend and try again.“
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P17
“We’re learning and there’s still a lot to learn, but I must be happy with this debut. Obviously, we want to improve a lot and do it fast, but it was important to finish this first race and gather some valuable experience. Let’s quickly focus on Mandalika now and keep working with confidence.”
Raul Fernandez – P18
“The weekend was difficult in general. Today in the race, all rookies battled in the same group, which is a signal that this track is very difficult for us if you don’t come here to do the preseason tests. We did a good job this weekend, but I did not have a great feeling. We will analyse the data when we are more calm. Today, my biggest learning was managing the tires for a race duration. I gained a lot of experience and it is important to me. Brad Binder reaching the podium today is really important to me because it means that the bike can perform and we have a reference to follow in order to get close to it as soon as possible.”
Jack Miller – DNF
“That definitely wasn’t what I had in mind for the first race of the year in Qatar. Bit of a repeat of last year here really, because I had second-row starts in both races here and they didn’t amount to much. I guess you could say it’s positive for me that we’re not here for another race next time out…
“It’s never quite happened for me here in MotoGP for some reason, on Sundays anyway. Saturday seems to go alright and this weekend was the same, I just got knocked off the front row on Saturday night in qualifying but starting fourth, I was happy with that. Saturday was just a good day for working step by step, I felt a lot more organised and ready for the race so I was actually pretty happy. Being third and on the inside for turn one would have been better but there was a lot to be pleased about, and I felt pretty calm. And then Sunday, it was all over after 10 minutes. Earlier than that, if I’m being honest.
“Things kind of unravelled for me from the start, none of us Ducatis got away at all off the grid and I was ninth and on my back foot by the time we got to Turn 1. It didn’t take me long to realise there was a bigger problem, because the electronics went pretty much haywire and the bike didn’t know where it was on the track. At some points I had 100 per cent power, and at others I had virtually no power at all. Coming out of the last corner, I thought I was going to get run up the arse because the bike was so slow even though I had the throttle wide open.
“I changed settings, maps, anything I could but there wasn’t much I could do really. There was some fear that someone was going to clean run up the back of me coming out of the last corner because I went for full power, but not a lot happened. In the end it was safer to park it, safer for me and for everyone else. Not a great day, and nothing much to be learned from it. We looked into the issue and we know what happened, so the key thing is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“Qatar was the first race of the year but you know how it goes, the talk started about 2023 before 2022 even began for me as to what happens with me next season. Look, I get it – I get this every year so I’m kind of used to it! – but I knew it was coming because my team-mate Pecco (Bagnaia) re-signed for two years before the season started, so the obvious question becomes about my future. Like I said, I’m used to it and it’s nothing new, and it gives the journalists something to talk about and write about how I’m going to lose my job, how I’m done, writing me off, so on and so on. I can’t control that. It’s not like the talk motivates me more, makes me do my job any differently – makes no difference to me. If I do my best job and I keep my job, perfect. If I don’t, I don’t. Sometimes feels like I have to put up with more of these stories than some people, but it is what it is.
“We’re back to Indonesia next after the test we did there last month, and it’s always good to go to a new race. The track there reminds me of Argentina a bit (where we go to after that) and I’m sure there’ll be heaps of fans there so it should be a good one. I’ll speak to you from there with hopefully some better things to talk about.”
Francesco Bagnaia – DNF
“I can’t be happy with how the race went and, first of all, I want to apologise to both Ducati and Jorge because I made a mistake. In the race, unfortunately, I was losing a lot in the first part of the acceleration, and we were not as fast as we usually are. Also, I had some difficulties at the start. Now we’ll have to analyse the data to try to understand what happened and try to come back stronger starting from the next race.”
Marco Bezzecchi – DNF
“A good race until the crash: not perfect start, but I managed to be fast from the first laps. Unfortunately I had never done so many laps behind someone in the slipstream, I made a mistake when braking at the last corner with the brake lever and I used too much rear brake. I’m not completely familiar with the bike yet, a real pity, it is still part of our apprenticeship path. I am happy with the work done with the Team and with Ducati: we will back on track in Indonesia to score the points there.”
Jorge Martín – DNF
“Not the race I was hoping for, I started badly and I lost positions. After the crash with Pecco I was just happy not to get hurt. This things can happen during a race but now we have to think about the next race.”
Miguel Oliveira – DNF
“The pace for three laps before my crash was quite good and I was making time but I lost the front going into Turn 1. It’s pretty obvious that I need to improve my qualifying because Brad showed what the bike can do. If you can make a good start then it is easier to go with the fast guys and the race has a completely different dynamic. I did a race simulation in Mandalika and felt quite fast. We’ll see what happens. Brad showed that coming from Q1 you can still make it. We will arrive in Mandalika fully charged.”
Álex Márquez – DNF
“The objective today was just to finish the race; after the difficult time we had in qualifying, it was important to finish and build up a base. We made a change today from qualifying and the feeling was great. I made a really good start and was able to move up into 11th or 12th on the first lap and I was going well and being realistic with my pace. But then I had a really strange crash at the first corner, after the straight, I suddenly locked the front. We need to analyse what happened exactly but, in my opinion, I didn’t make a mistake. I saw some smoke coming out of Oliveira’s bike the lap before my crash, but I’m not really sure what happened. I want to say sorry to my team, I gave my best, but as I said, my objective was to finish the race and we didn’t achieve it. I’m happy about how Sunday went until the crash, specially how the feeling (with the bike) came back. Our eyes are on Mandalika now and having a good weekend there.”
Team Managers
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Team Manager
“An almost perfect start to the season and a deserved result for Brad and the whole team. It was an incredible race pace but he was able to manage the speed. The start was fantastic. Let’s keep going in this direction. A big shame for Miguel. He was recovering well from the fifth row of the grid but it was not quite enough to catch the top ten. The next race will be a challenge but we will look forward to it.”
Pit Beirer – KTM Motorsport Director
“It was an outstanding weekend. We restructured our whole program over the winter after coming so far, so quick and it was time for a change. This weekend showed we are on the right way and the podium was the ultimate payback. In fact, I still cannot believe it because this track is one of the toughest for us. We turned it around and this result means a lot to us.”
Livio Suppo – Suzuki Team Manager
“For sure these aren’t the results we hoped for, especially after the strong pace on Friday, but anyway we still feel positive because the race was super-fast up front and both Joan and Alex had good pace. We also saw how much the bike has improved on the straights, so that will be useful in the coming races. We need to analyse the data to understand exactly what we lacked today. It’s a long championship and it’s good that both our riders scored points and got off to a decent start; we are looking forward to Indonesia in a couple of weeks. It’s my first weekend back in the paddock for four years, and I want to thank Sahara-san for his trust in me, I’m determined to have a great season all together with the team. I would like to extend my congratulations to the Gresini family. I am sure Fausto would be proud of their job.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager
“This weekend we showed the potential of our riders and our bike, but in the end we couldn’t turn this into really top results. It’s a pity but it’s only the first race of the season, and the first with our new bike. We will continue to learn and see how our bike performs at the next circuits, which are all very different. Joan and Alex brought home some nice points. Let’s see what happens in Indonesia.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“We already knew that this race would be difficult after yesterday‘s qualifying, but we are still disappointed with today‘s result. Coming to this track, we had higher expectations than what materialised this weekend. Both riders experienced unusually high tyre pressure almost immediately from the beginning of the race. This prohibited them from being on the attack like they normally would. We will be investigating why this happened. Fabio had a great start and that played to his benefit. He did the best he could do considering the circumstances. Franco struggled a bit at the start but then got into a steadier rhythm. We have to make steps for the next round and make sure we are closer to the front, where we belong.”
Pablo Nieto – Mooney VR46 Team Manager
“In any case it was a special weekend for us: the real debut of the Team and Mooney in MotoGP. It was not an easy Sunday, Luca scored the first points of the season after two complicated days. Friday’s problem forced us to change our schedule until the warm up and then the race. A real shame for Marco because he had started well and was keeping a good pace. We will continue to work for the GP in Indonesia.”
Hervé Poncharal – Tech3 KTM Team Manager
“What a race for the opening round of the 2022 MotoGP season here in Qatar. I am pretty happy about Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s day and we have accomplished our mission. This year is all about learning the category and the target is to fight for the Rookie of the Year title. We saw a tough battle between all rookies and we are happy to see Remy Gardner emerging as the winner of today’s contest. We picked up a point, which is not easy to do, especially with his right wrist still sore, and we finished the opening round leading the rookies’ championship. Congratulations Remy on your first MotoGP point.
“Raul had a good race and a great battle with all the rookies as they stayed close to each other the entire race, despite the track conditions changing at every single lap. Even if he did not grab the point, I want to thank him for his dedication and his hard work. We know that Raul is a fast rider and we understand that it can be difficult to accept that the learning process takes a while. I am sure that from the next race, he will already be better than today.
“For the next round, we head to the Permanita Mandalika Circuit, a layout that both Remy and Raul know from the preseason tests. They did many laps there and have data to work from, so I am convinced that they will both be competitive and fight for points.
“I also want to congratulate Brad Binder and KTM Factory Racing for their amazing second position today. It was incredible to see him in front with his KTM RC16 and to be so close to winning the first round.”
MotoGP Race Results
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Enea BASTIANINI | DUCATI | 42m13.198 |
| 2 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +0.346 |
| 3 | Pol ESPARGARO | HONDA | +1.351 |
| 4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +2.242 |
| 5 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +4.099 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | +4.843 |
| 7 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | +8.810 |
| 8 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +10.536 |
| 9 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +10.543 |
| 10 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +14.967 |
| 11 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | +16.712 |
| 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | APRILIA | +23.216 |
| 13 | Luca MARINI | DUCATI | +27.283 |
| 14 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | YAMAHA | +27.374 |
| 15 | Remy GARDNER | KTM | +41.107 |
| 16 | Darryn BINDER | YAMAHA | +41.119 |
| 17 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | DUCATI | +41.349 |
| 18 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | +42.357 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Jorge MARTIN | DUCATI | 11 laps |
| DNF | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 11 laps |
| DNF | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 12 laps |
| DNF | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | 13 laps |
| DNF | Marco BEZZECCHI | DUCATI | 16 laps |
| DNF | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | 16 laps |
MotoGP Championship Standings
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
| 1 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 25 |
| 2 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 20 |
| 3 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 16 |
| 4 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 13 |
| 5 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 11 |
| 6 | MIR Joan | SPA | 10 |
| 7 | RINS Alex | SPA | 9 |
| 8 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 8 |
| 9 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 7 |
| 10 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 6 |
| 11 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 5 |
| 12 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 4 |
| 13 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 3 |
| 14 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 2 |
| 15 | GARDNER Remy | AUS | 1 |
| 16 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 0 |
| 17 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | ITA | 0 |
| 18 | FERNANDEZ Raul | SPA | 0 |
