The #DohaGP weekend was full of twists and turns, the most surprising of all would be Pramac Racing’s contender for Rookie of the Year, Jorge Martín qualifying in pole position: the last Rookie to achieve this was Marc Marquez at Austin in 2013. Martín also became the seventh different pole sitter in 7 MotoGP races, a sequence which began at the 2020 #AragonGP.

As the #DohaGP roared into action it was the Pramac Racing duo who got the holeshot, with Martín in the lead. With Zarco slotting into 2^nd, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro took 3^rd position in the opening laps. Red Bull KTM Factory’s Miguel Oliveira would benefit the most off the line, managing to come out of the first corner in 5^th, after qualifying 12^th.

As Martín took control from the lead, he managed to stretch a 0.4s gap to the rest of the pack, as Zarco chased him down. The Monster Energy Yamaha duo appeared to struggle in the opening stages of the race, with Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales finding themselves clinging to 8^th and 9^th positions. During lap 8, Ducati Lenovo’s Francesco Bagnaia set a new race lap record, with a blistering time of 1:54.491.

As Martin maintained his lead, it would be easy to forget this was only his 2^nd ever MotoGP race.  He looked strong and confident setting the race pace. LCR Honda CASTROL’s Alex Marquez’s Qatar woes continued as he crashed out on lap 14, but he walked away uninjured. Tech 3 KTM Factory’s Iker Lecuona appeared to struggle throughout the weekend, crashing out on lap 14.

As the battle to the front continued to heat up, Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Joan Mir and Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller made contact. Visibly unhappy with the move, Miller set about fighting his way through the group again; as lap 14 commenced Mir and Miller made contact again, coming onto the start/finish straight, both losing positions as a result of this incident.  However no further action was taken by race direction. As the Miller/Mir incident interrupted the group, Martín had opened a gap of 0.494s to Zarco and Bagania who had a 0.197s gap to 4^th.

Martín’s lead came to end on the 18^th lap, as Quartararo came steaming past, after a small battle along the start/finish straight.  Quartararo led the final laps with ease. With just 3 laps to go Monster Energy Yamaha’s Viñales received a track limits warning as he battled for 4^th with Rins.

Quartararo enjoyed his first win aboard the Monster Energy Yamaha, as Pramac Racing’s Zarco and Martín secured a double podium for the Ducati team and Top Rookie.  This is the first time ever there has been a French 1-2 in the premier class of Grand Prix racing. Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Rins managed to hold off Viñales, with the Spaniards finishing 4^th and 5^th respectively. Ducati Lenovo’s Bagnaia salvaged 6^th position after a difficult race for the factory Ducati team. Reigning World Champion, Mir finished 7^th, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory’s Brad Binder in 8^th. After a dramatic race for the Aussie, Miller finished 9^th, a disappointing result after a weekend of ups and downs. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s  Espargaro rounded out the top 10.

We look forward to the next round, as MotoGP returns to Portimão in Portugal. Zarco will go into the #PortugueseGP weekend as the championship leader, after a very successful 2 races in Qatar. Will Ducati dominate again? Can Yamaha step up to the plate and continue their winning streak?