MotoGP 2026
Round 20 – Qatar – Friday
Lusail was the scene of Fabio Di Giannantonio’s first MotoGP win in 2023. On Friday night, the VR46 Ducati rider took the circuit record off Marc Márquez, who arrived in Qatar 44 points clear of Jorge Martín and with his first chance to wrap up the championship this weekend.
Only 18 riders were on track for MotoGP practice, with Jack Miller sidelined afterYamaha’s withdrawal from the Qatar GP. Senna Agius and Joel Kelso gave Australians two riders to follow in Q2 after going straight through in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively.
MotoGP Practice
Márquez led Marco Bezzecchi by a tenth in FP1, with Di Giannantonio third. Track temperature dropped from 42 °C to 32 °C for the evening session, and lap times tumbled.
Márquez lost time when the chain came off his Ducati midway through Practice. He was back on track with 18 minutes left and soon became the first rider into the 1m50s.
Di Giannantonio went quicker, then Bezzecchi took over at the top barely a second later. With just over three minutes left, Di Giannantonio answered with a 1m50.406, shaving almost a tenth off the 2025 record.
Márquez got within 0.14 seconds on his final flying lap. Di Giannantonio had gained almost exactly that margin on Márquez in the second sector alone. Di Giannantonio had made the time attack his priority after a run of difficult qualifying sessions.
Bezzecchi finished third and had shown his pace on the medium rear early, with three consecutive 1m51s laps in his opening run.
Francesco Bagnaia was fourth and likened the layout and grip to Brno, saying he had the rear support he wanted and had been quick on used tyres.
All four Aprilias into Q2
Martín, who withdrew from the Malaysian GP weekend with the wrist fracture he suffered in the Phillip Island Sprint, was fifth in FP1. He slipped to 16th as the evening time attacks began, then found the lap he needed to finish seventh and go straight through to Q2.
Jorge Martín
“Right now, we need to improve the time attack, because when I try to push, I feel the pain more.”
Raúl Fernández was fifth on the Trackhouse Aprilia while managing his injured finger. Ai Ogura got the other Trackhouse bike through in ninth and said he was still giving away too much speed at the apex. Aprilia is still chasing its first MotoGP Grand Prix podium at Lusail.
Binder gets through, Acosta faces Q1
Enea Bastianini went from 17th in FP1, when he was struggling for rear grip, to sixth and best of the KTMs after Tech3 made set-up changes and fitted a soft rear. Brad Binder recovered from an FP1 fall to jump from 12th to tenth with less than two minutes left. That was the final direct Q2 place, by four hundredths from the returning Fermín Aldeguer.
Pedro Acosta had been fourth in FP1 before a technical problem stopped him late in the session. He went nearly 1.4 seconds quicker in the evening and still slipped to 14th. Maverick Viñales, a two-time MotoGP winner at Lusail, was 15th and said his physical condition was costing him time through the fast third sector.
Johann Zarco was eighth and the only Honda rider to make the cut. Luca Marini finished 13th, while Joan Mir’s stand-in Jake Dixon ended his first day on the RC213V just two tenths behind LCR rookie Diogo Moreira after crashing at Turn 15 in FP1.
Qatar MotoGP Practice Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | F. Di Giannantonio | Duc | 1m50.406 | 349.5 |
| 2 | M. Marquez | Duc | +0.142 | 352.9 |
| 3 | M. Bezzecchi | Apr | +0.260 | 352.9 |
| 4 | F. Bagnaia | Duc | +0.386 | 354.0 |
| 5 | R. Fernandez | Apr | +0.608 | 343.9 |
| 6 | E. Bastianini | KTM | +0.618 | 349.5 |
| 7 | J. Martin | Apr | +0.635 | 355.2 |
| 8 | J. Zarco | Hon | +0.895 | 352.9 |
| 9 | A. Ogura | Apr | +0.912 | 348.3 |
| 10 | B. Binder | KTM | +1.003 | 355.2 |
| 11 | F. Aldeguer | Duc | +1.041 | 346.1 |
| 12 | F. Morbidelli | Duc | +1.078 | 346.1 |
| 13 | L. Marini | Hon | +1.142 | 354.0 |
| 14 | P. Acosta | KTM | +1.169 | 355.2 |
| 15 | M. Viñales | KTM | +1.247 | 348.3 |
| 16 | I. Lecuona | Duc | +1.324 | 354.0 |
| 17 | D. Moreira | Hon | +1.786 | 355.2 |
| 18 | J. Dixon | Hon | +1.987 | 349.5 |
MotoGP Rider Quotes
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P1 (1m50.406)
“For sure, I love the Lusail track, but we must not take for granted the fact that we’re fast here. This morning, we had an important gap from the top, but we made some changes in the afternoon and in Practice we found again an amazing feeling which allowed us to be on top. Today we focused on the time attack, because the goal is to have a great Qualifying, since we lacked a bit in this area in the last races. We will work tomorrow on the pace, we proved to be competitive throughout the season, and I’ve always been able to manage the tyres. Tomorrow, the pecking order will be pretty much the same, but overall, I feel good and we can stay in the mix.”
Marc Márquez – P2 (+0.142)
“The goal for today was to finish among the top positions. We achieved that, and tomorrow we’ll try to do an even better job. We expected our main rivals to be competitive here, as well as Di Giannantonio, who is always very quick at this track. Still, we’re happy with the result: we’re in the top three and very close to the leader. We’re focused solely on ourselves and on doing our best. First, we need to think about qualifying and, depending on how we perform, we’ll have a better understanding of our chances in the Sprint.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P3 (+0.260)
“I felt good on the medium tyre straight away, but it’s only Friday. There are still a few things to improve, though it was a good start. We struggled a lot in Qatar last year, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The feeling was good from the outset, and I had a lot of fun. It was incredible to see the progress we’ve made since then, so a big thank you to everyone at Noale and at Aprilia.”
Francesco Bagnaia – P4 (+0.386)
“I’m very happy with today. We worked well, especially with used tyres. In a way, I was expecting this kind of result because this track is very similar to Brno in terms of layout and grip, which allows me to have better support from the rear. The time attack went well: I didn’t want to push too hard, but in the end we were already fast on our first attempt. When things go in the right direction from the get-go, you keep improving consistently, run after run. We’ll keep working and see how tomorrow goes.”
Raúl Fernández – P5 (+0.608)
“First of all, today I was really focused on trying to use my normal finger. I realized immediately, that the feeling wasn’t perfect, but it was the first time since the crash that I felt I can use it and had a feeling for it so I decided to stick with it. The bone is ready, but the ligaments are not perfect, I don’t have the movement 100%, but I felt I can ride. I also tried not to stress the finger too much and manage the situation so I chose the laps in which I had to take more risks and while I had to make some pace to understand the medium rear, I was trying to save some energy and not be too aggressive on the bike. The target to be in Q2 is reached and also the pace we had was really good, although not the best, but I was trying to manage my finger.”
Enea Bastianini – P6 (+0.618)
“It was a tough day, to be honest, especially at the start, because I was missing a lot of grip. I was always sliding, and on entry I had some movement from the rear, which doesn’t help at a track like this with so many fast corners, where you need to feel safe and confident. We kept working and solved some problems, and the big step came when we put the soft tyre in, so it’s good to go directly into Q2. The problem was more or less the same this morning and this evening, so if something works in Practice it can also work for the Sprint tomorrow. For the time attack we have solved some problems, but for race pace we are still missing something. So, we need to keep working with the medium rear because it will be the race tyre. I’m confident, because we already improved on the medium in the middle of the session. I think we are going in the right direction, but I want to be much closer, because the Ducatis and Aprilias were very fast from the start today.”
Jorge Martín – P7 (+0.635)
“I’m happy and proud of the work I’ve done, given that it’s only been a few days since the injury. I got better and better, and I had a good feeling on the RS-GP26. By the evening I was a lot stronger than I had been in the afternoon. Right now, we need to improve the time attack, because when I try to push, I feel the pain more.”
Johann Zarco – P8 (+0.895)
“I felt good on the bike today, and I’m happy with the work we’ve done. We made steady improvements throughout the day, and I’m feeling confident heading into qualifying. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into tomorrow and have another strong session. Let’s see what we can do!”
Ai Ogura – P9 (+0.912)
“My day was not good. I was almost a second away from P1, which is a lot and I was going really slow in all the sectors. The problem is the same everywhere, but I couldn’t improve it today. I think, if I can fix this one point, which is my apex speed with same braking and same exit, everything is going well, but I think it’s quite tough to do it. So, let’s see – Bezzecchi managed to do that today, but I didn’t.”
Fermín Aldeguer – P11 (+1.041)
“We were just 38 thousandths of a second away from Q2… On the one hand, there’s a bit of disappointment, but on the other, we know that we’re back, that we’re feeling good, that we’ve worked the way we know how, and that the feeling with the bike, especially with my hand, is there. Q1 is never good news, but we definitely need every possible minute on track, so it will do us good.”
Franco Morbidelli – P12 (+1.078)
“It was a good day, overall. Unfortunately, I missed Q2 just for 75 thousandths and I’m sorry for that. I lose a lot of time in the last sector because I struggle in the last two corners. Now, we must analyse the information and understand why I am slower in that point. Overall, the feeling is not perfect, and I miss the grip especially in the last part of the track. Tomorrow’s goal is to reduce the gap which didn’t allow us to be in Top10 and to gain Q2 in Qualifying.”
Luca Marini – P13 (+1.142)
“When I push to my maximum, on a fast lap for example, I am struggling with my physical condition. Doing laps and trying things, I feel perfect but today I was only able to put together one Qualifying stint right at the end. Very strange, so we keep resting and improving as much as we can. The bike is working well, and we made some improvements, but Qatar is a track where the performance of the bike makes a lot of difference.”
Maverick Viñales – P15 (+1.247)
“It’s frustrating to arrive in Qatar in this physical condition, because I feel really good at this track normally. Unfortunately, I’m not in the condition to ride at 100% this weekend. I lost so much in a few corners where I used to be really quick, especially in sector three. Normally I was ahead of everyone there by one or two tenths, but now I’m very slow, and that’s down to my physical condition. It is what it is, so I’m going to try to enjoy it as much as I can, because the feeling and the feedback from the bike are really nice. Then we’ll see if I can have a race where I feel good, the flow is coming and I can move forward. That’s my target.”
Iker Lecuona – P16 (+1.324)
“It had been a few years since I last raced here, yet we were already quite fast this morning. We worked well and made a good step forward in the afternoon, although riding at night felt a bit strange. I made a few too many mistakes; otherwise, we could have been closer to the top 10. But we know where we need to work to keep improving.”
Diogo Moreira – P17 (+1.786)
“It’s been a really tough day. I felt good in the morning and everything was going well, but things changed in the afternoon. The bike was working well, so I think I just couldn’t put everything together. We need to look at what happened, understand where we can improve and try to turn things around tomorrow. Let’s see!”
Jake Dixon – P18 (+1.987)
“We did not have the best start to the day it has to be said, I’m really sorry for the guys but it’s such a professional team that we all bounced back and go to it. All of the Honda HRC engineers helped me a lot between sessions to understand the bike better and show me where we can improve. I am happy with the speed we showed today and tonight it’ll be about seeing what areas and points and going to make the most difference. Crutchlow has also been a huge help, giving me great insight and being very clear – it’s really helpful to have someone with his experience in this situation.”
Moto2 Practice
Daniel Holgado backed up his pole and second place at Sepang by topping both Friday sessions at Lusail. Manuel González led much of the evening Practice until Holgado went quicker with six minutes left. On the next lap, the Aspar rider set a circuit record of 1m55.897. Holgado also holds the Moto3 lap record at Lusail, set in 2024. Filip Salač jumped from 21st to second late in the session, two tenths off Holgado.
González arrived in Qatar 3.5 points clear of Izan Guevara. The pair ended Friday separated by a hundredth of a second. Guevara was down in 20th before his first flying lap on fresh rubber lifted him to third. A 1m55.966 on González’s final lap would have put him second, but the lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 15, leaving the championship leader fourth.
Guevara has now gone straight to Q2 at all 20 rounds. The Pramac rider had his eye on Sunday, with front tyre management a priority after it gave him trouble here last year.
Senna Agius was back in tenth as the late times came in, then found another two tenths on his penultimate lap to finish sixth, less than half a second off the record. The Australian slotted in between Celestino Vietti and Sepang winner David Alonso.
Both Forward riders went straight through to Q2. Álex Escrig’s second lap of the session had put him on top early and still held up for 12th, just ahead of Xabi Zurutuza. The last direct place went to Adrián Huertas, a single thousandth ahead of Italtrans team-mate Daniel Muñoz.
Qatar Moto2 Practice Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | D. Holgado | Kal | 1m55.897 | 287.2 |
| 2 | F. Salac | Kal | +0.199 | 290.3 |
| 3 | I. Guevara | Bos | +0.239 | 289.5 |
| 4 | M. Gonzalez | Kal | +0.249 | 288.7 |
| 5 | C. Vietti | Bos | +0.287 | 291.1 |
| 6 | S. Agius | Kal | +0.458 | 286.4 |
| 7 | D. Alonso | Kal | +0.487 | 290.3 |
| 8 | C. Veijer | Kal | +0.515 | 291.1 |
| 9 | A. Lopez | Kal | +0.547 | 290.3 |
| 10 | B. Baltus | Kal | +0.637 | 286.4 |
| 11 | J. A. Rueda | Kal | +0.678 | 288.0 |
| 12 | A. Escrig | For | +0.681 | 291.1 |
| 13 | X. Zurutuza | For | +0.684 | 289.5 |
| 14 | A. Huertas | Kal | +0.742 | 286.4 |
| 15 | D. Muñoz | Kal | +0.743 | 289.5 |
| 16 | I. Ortola | Kal | +0.781 | 293.4 |
| 17 | J. Roberts | Kal | +0.783 | 286.4 |
| 18 | A. Sasaki | Kal | +0.808 | 292.6 |
| 19 | L. Lunetta | Bos | +0.876 | 289.5 |
| 20 | T. Furusato | Kal | +0.907 | 288.7 |
| 21 | A. Piqueras | Kal | +0.969 | 290.3 |
| 22 | D. Öncü | Bos | +1.046 | 291.1 |
| 23 | Z. Vd Goorbergh | Kal | +1.240 | 283.4 |
| 24 | T. Arbolino | Kal | +1.331 | 288.0 |
| 25 | A. Ferrandez | Bos | +1.463 | 288.7 |
| 26 | M. Aji | Kal | +2.401 | 291.1 |
| 27 | M. Ferrari | Kal | +2.587 | 288.7 |
Moto3 Friday Practice
Máximo Quiles had already set the fastest lap in FP1 when he highsided at Turn 9 late in the session. Cleared to ride, the world champion traded fastest laps with David Almansa in the evening before a 2m03.172 put him two tenths clear and completed the Friday sweep. Almansa’s Intact GP team-mate David Muñoz had also crashed in FP1 and jumped from 13th to third in the final seconds of Practice.
Joel Kelso was second in FP1 and spent nearly ten minutes on top in the evening. He had slipped to 11th when his final lap took four tenths off his previous best and lifted him to seventh. The Australian qualified second at Lusail last year and is straight into Q2 again, with GRYD Honda team-mate Eddie O’Shea also through in ninth.
Hakim Danish was fourth, ahead of Sepang podium finisher Veda Pratama. The Indonesian goes straight into Q2 but will drop six places on Sunday’s grid for improving his time under yellow flags in FP1, his second such offence this season.
Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mates Álvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte are in the fight for second in the championship and will start qualifying in Q1. Carpe was 15th, a tenth short of the cut set by last year’s Lusail polesitter Ryusei Yamanaka. Uriarte ended up 21st.
Qatar Moto3 Friday Practice Results
 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
| 1 | M. Quiles | KTM | 2m03.172 | 238.9 |
| 2 | D. Almansa | KTM | +0.200 | 237.8 |
| 3 | D. Muñoz | KTM | +0.271 | 242.6 |
| 4 | H. Danish | KTM | +0.328 | 240.5 |
| 5 | V. Pratama | Hon | +0.389 | 244.3 |
| 6 | R. Salmela | KTM | +0.440 | 240.5 |
| 7 | J. Kelso | Hon | +0.577 | 242.1 |
| 8 | A. Fernandez | Hon | +0.753 | 240.5 |
| 9 | E. O’Shea | Hon | +0.858 | 247.7 |
| 10 | J. Esteban | KTM | +0.874 | 243.7 |
| 11 | M. Morelli | KTM | +0.913 | 245.4 |
| 12 | S. Ogden | KTM | +0.918 | 245.4 |
| 13 | V. Perrone | KTM | +0.973 | 242.6 |
| 14 | R. Yamanaka | KTM | +0.994 | 240.5 |
| 15 | A. Carpe | KTM | +1.095 | 244.8 |
| 16 | A. Cruces | KTM | +1.158 | 242.1 |
| 17 | R. Moodley | KTM | +1.224 | 243.2 |
| 18 | G. Pini | Hon | +1.225 | 240.5 |
| 19 | C. O’Gorman | Hon | +1.416 | 243.7 |
| 20 | Z. Mitani | Hon | +1.500 | 241.6 |
| 21 | B. Uriarte | KTM | +1.507 | 241.6 |
| 22 | J. Rios | Hon | +1.884 | 242.1 |
| 23 | L. Rammerstorfer | Hon | +1.937 | 241.6 |
| 24 | K. Singhapong | Hon | +3.044 | 237.8 |
| 25 | K. Mononyane | KTM | +3.312 | 243.2 |
2026 MotoGP Calendar
|
|||
|
Rnd
|
Date
|
Event
|
Circuit
|
| 1 |
01 Mar
|
Thai
|
Chang International Circuit
|
| 2 |
22 Mar
|
Brazil*
|
Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
|
| 3 |
29 Mar
|
US
|
Circuit of the Americas
|
| 4 |
26 Apr
|
Spain**
|
Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
|
| 5 |
10 May
|
France
|
Le Mans
|
| 6 |
17 May
|
Catalonia
|
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
|
| 7 |
31 May
|
Italy
|
Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
|
| 8 |
07 Jun
|
Hungary
|
Balaton Park Circuit
|
| 9 |
21 Jun
|
Czech
|
Automotodrom Brno
|
| 10 |
28 Jun
|
Netherlands
|
TT Circuit Assen
|
| 11 |
12 Jul
|
Germany
|
Sachsenring
|
| 12 |
09 Aug
|
GB
|
Silverstone Circuit
|
| 13 |
30 Aug
|
Aragon
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
| 14 |
13 Sep
|
San Marino
|
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
|
| 15 |
20 Sep
|
Austria
|
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
|
| 16 |
04 Oct
|
Japan
|
Mobility Resort Motegi
|
| 17 |
11 Oct
|
Indonesia
|
Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
|
| 18 |
25 Oct
|
Australia
|
Phillip Island
|
| 19 |
01 Nov
|
Malaysia
|
Petronas Sepang International Circuit
|
| 20 |
08 Nov
|
Qatar
|
Lusail International Circuit
|
| 21 |
22 Nov
|
Portugal
|
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
|
| 22 |
29 Nov
|
Valencia
|
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
|
