- Bagnaia smashes unofficial lap records in Malaysia and Qatar
- Marc Marquez comes to grips with the Gresini Ducati
-First round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship to be held on 10 March
The 2023 MotoGP World Champion and Ducati Lenovo team rider, Pecco Bagnaia kickstarted his title defence by putting up a stunning performance during the pre-season tests in Malaysia and Qatar. The Italian rider showed the rest of the MotoGP grid how serious he is about retaining the #1 sticker on his bike by setting new lap records at the Sepang International Circuit and the Lusail International Circuit.
While pre-season tests give teams a chance to test the improvements they’ve made to their Grand Prix motorcycles, they also show where the teams and riders stand with only a few weeks to go before the season opener.
Hot on the heels of Peccco was the 2023 season runner-up Jorge Martin. Riding for Prima Pramac Racing and on the same-spec Ducati MotoGP bike as the Bagnaia’s factory race bike, Martin was slightly off the pace. That said, it’ll be interesting to see how much pressure Martin can put on Bagnia in the hope of clinching the Championship this year after missing out on the opportunity to do so in 2023, by the slimmest of margins.
There are other riders this season who’ll also be hoping to pose a threat to Pecco and there are high hopes of eight-time world champion Marc Marquez. The Spaniard ended his long-term relationship with Honda, who were clearly struggling to keep up with the Ducatis over the past few years, and has joined Gresini Racing.
While he’ll be riding a year-old bike, since Gresini is a satellite team, one cannot rule out Marc’s mercurial talent and ability to extract the most from a bike. He finished the Qatar test in fourth position and we expect him to finish races on the podium and even bag a few wins.
The other riders to look out for in this year’s Championship include, the 2023 Indian Grand Prix Winner Marco Bezzecchi, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Fabio Quartararo and KTM Factory Racing’s Brand Binder. And let’s not forget Pedro Acosta who’s riding for GasGas and one of the most talented riders MotoGP has ever seen.
The first round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship will be held at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar from 8-10 March. The season promises to be very exciting and like last year, expect intense battles and close racing.
For MotoGP fans in India, note that the 15th round of the MotoGP World Championship will be held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida from 20-22 September.
