Last season’s MotoGP Championship runnerup Jorge Martin started his 2024 season on top of the timesheets, under the race lap record set last year by Enea Bastianini as practice got underway in Qatar.

Prima Pramac Ducati’s Martin clocked a 1:52.624, 0.047 seconds quicker than Aleix Espargaro on the factory Aprilia, with rookie Pedro Acosta on the GASGAS Tech3 third on his MotoGP debut. Marc Marquez was fourth on the 2023 Gresini Ducati, ahead of Red Bull KTM factory rider Brad Binder and Castrol Honda LCR’s Johann Zarco.

American Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira was 12th, with teammate Raul Fernandez 14th.