The 2024 MotoGP preseason is now history. After only six days of testing (Cheste, Sepang and Lusail), the cards are dealt, with a similar color as in 2023: the Ducati continue to dominate in an insulting way, with a Pecco Bagnaia, the two-time champion, who is stronger even than last year. The Italian closed the Qatar test with a new fastest lap record, being the only driver on the grid capable of going under 1m51s.
The novelty of this preseason compared to the previous one is the return to the forward positions of Marc Márquez. The multiple champion from Cervera took a step forward on the last day and slipped into 4th place, just 3 tenths behind Bagnaia.
The 2024 preseason has had a great protagonist, Pecco Bagnaia, who has been imposing his superiority with every step he took with his new Desmosedici GP24: he started behind in Cheste, with a 15th place, he took a step forward in Sepang, 5th. º and first, and he finished off the adaptation task in Qatar with both days leading the times and also shattering the Qatari track record.
The one who came closest to him was his teammate Enea Bastianini, a sign that the red Ducati is going like a shot. This was confirmed by Jorge Martín with his Pramac Ducati, with which he was 2nd on the first day of Lusail and closed the second and final day with 7th place (5 tenths away).
Aleix Espargaró has led the Aprilia revolution, which ends the tests with three bikes in the top six positions. The man from Granollers set the third best time in the two days of testing in Qatar, just 308 thousandths behind Bagnaia. Very close.
Proof that the Aprilias are going really well is Raúl Fernández’s fifth place, just 6 thousandths behind Aleix, and Maverick Viñales’ sixth place, 46 thousandths behind his teammate.
Aleix Espargaró, who has a renewal with Aprilia in the air, suffered “a small fracture” in a finger on his left hand when he suffered a high side while doing a race simulation. The Granollers driver did not give importance to the injury, since he will be able to recover in time for the race on March 10.
All eyes have paid more attention than anyone else this preseason to Marc Márquez, in his debut with the Gresini team’s Ducati. The adaptation of Catalan to Desmosedici has been good, slow, for sure. He began his career with the Italian motorcycle in Cheste, last November, showing his potential with a 4th place that served as a warning to his rivals, and he closed his preseason with a 4th place in Qatar, approaching 383 thousandths from Bagnaia.
The Cervera rider, who suffered a crash on the last day, took a significant step forward by reducing the gap with the Italian from 9 to 3 tenths in a single day. Another warning that the multi-time champion is back.
The two Japanese factories continue, as in 2023, with very low hours. Despite the positive evolution that the Honda made in Cheste, in Qatar it once again showed a lack of top speed and power: the first motorcycle to win was that of Johann Zarco, 17th, 1.2 seconds behind Bagnaia, a world, while the Repsol official Joan Mir was 19th, 1.5s behind the Italian Ducati.
The same disaster as the Yamaha: Fabio Quartararo, who had posted good times in Sepang, posted a sad 14th place, 1 second behind Pecco, and Álex Rins, 16th, 1.1s behind.
The promising rookie Pedro Acosta, Moto2 champion, closes the preseason with the 15th best time with his Gas Gas.
