Tussling in the Desert

A tussle in the desert, a rockstar rookie, and a dream opening campaign from the defending champion. This is MotoGP 2024, and it seems we have picked up from where we left off in 2023.

The opening round in Qatar always feels anticipatory, the great holding of the breath being released as the floodlights go on, and the racing finally gets back underway after the excruciatingly long winter break. It is the round where the rider's dreams and expectations are levied, where their new machines are finally put to the test - for better or worse. 

Shall we get the painful part out of the way?

The Japanese manufacturers seem to have made no real headway from their disaster 2023 season, in a heartbreaking revelation that saw none of the riders for these teams managing to score even a single point in the Saturday sprint race. To rub yet more salt in the wound, not a single rider from these factories could place within the Q2 session, with Johann Zarco on the satellite bike of the LCR Honda scoring highest, taking P13 on the grid. The overall results also remain dire for Honda and Yamaha, with not a single one of these riders managing to place within the top 10 of the classifications, although I will give enormous credit to Fabio Quartararo, who is yet again out-riding the capabilities of his bike, managing to snag a P11 finish from  P16 on the starting grid. 

Such results are not a promising harbinger for the remainder of the season, and with many of the riders up for contract renewal at the end of the 2024, you have to imagine there are going to be some significant shakeups on the grid for 2025. In fact, there are already rumours of Fabio Quartararo being in negotiations with Aprilia boss, Massimo Rivola. 

Of course, there are some positives that Honda and Yamaha can cling to. Firstly, both teams have concessions available to them, meaning that they are able to schedule extra testing dates during the season, which should hopefully allow the teams to catch up to the pioneering brilliance of the European outfits - its been reported that Honda are taking this benefit very seriously, having scheduled 22 testing days for their superstar test rider Stefan Bradl. And secondly, the calibre of their new signings. For Honda this is Johann Zarco and Luca Marini and for Yamaha Alex Rins. The benefits that these riders can bring to their new factories are tremendous, particularly so when you consider that Johann Zarco has experienced the racing machinery of KTM, Ducati, Yamaha and Honda previously, and thus brings a wealth of knowledge to Honda that may finally get them out of the rut that they've sunk into. Whereas Alex Rins (a race winner for both Suzuki and Honda) has been instrumental in building up a struggling team from the ground, having played a key part in taking Suzuki to their championship winning bike in 2020.

But lets leave such woes behind us. We have a star to talk about.

Pedro Acosta. Of course, I've extolled his virtues before, but wow oh wow, this kid is something else. In pre-season testing, the results all showed that Acosta was going to be fast, but I don't think anyone realised quite how competitive he was really going to be. Securing a direct entry into Q2 in the opening round of the season is frighteningly impressive (although not without a little two from Brand Binder, whom Acosta acknowledged for his help), and with a qualifying position of P8 on the grid, Acosta placed himself in a prime opportunity to learn the craft from some of the best riders in the world. 

And he seized the opportunity with both hands. He scored points in the sprint, keeping that P8 he qualified in, but the real star turn was his performance in Sunday's feature race. From the race start he was electric, making an excellent jump to propel himself into the top 6 positions, and then he used that opportunity to battle for a chance to get into the podium positions. Acosta went wheel to wheel with the great Marc Marquez, and spent 15 laps chasing a possible P4 for his debut race. This amazing show of talent has promised us that Acosta will be a spectacle across the season, and more importantly he's not bothered by being the only rookie in the premier class - he'll go for the overtake on everyone, even an 8 time world champion. 

Of course, Acosta may have pushed too hard in his battles, with his tyres taking the strain of such intense speeds badly, which meant that Acosta faded backwards across full race distance. However, a P9 finish on debut is no small feat, and I personally think Acosta put it best in his own words after the race:

"Super happy! Nothing bad to say today because, you know, I was living a dream for 15 laps! For this, we need to be happy... for 15 laps I was doing, you know, everything I know to do! I prefer to do 15 laps like this, with the fastest riders in the world... we learn a lot today, a lot. We see what the big boys are doing, I see how the big boys are managing... I see how they are picking up the bike... Maybe tomorrow I will be more calm!"

Truly a superstar in the making, but were there some surprises from our elder statesmen?

You bet your ass there were. A superstar young thing coming up through the ranks? Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez said, hold my beer kid, this is how we do.

Firstly Aleix. El Capitan of the Aprilia squad has seen everything during his time in the premier class. He's raced with the greats; Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo, not to mention our more recent crop of world champions. And in all that time, he's been a very background rider, only noted when his bike had a mechanical issue (again). That all changed in 2021, when Aprilia finally made their package competitive, following years of faithful development from Aleix Espargaro and his rotating door of team mates. Since 2021, Aleix has been a semi-permanent threat to podium positions, even taking the occasional (very emotional) wins for his beloved team. In 2024, he started his campaign by proving that he is in for yet another surprisingly competent season, placing third in the sprint race on Saturday. Of course, the feature race on Sunday wasn't quite as competitive, a poor launch from the line and getting caught up in battling other riders meant a P8 finish, but that still places him in the top 6 of the championship. I'm going to be keeping an eye on Aleix's season, after all, many have said this is the year he may retire, but if he has another stand out season... well who knows?

Then of course we have Marc Marquez. Now, I am biased because Marc is my absolute favourite rider and probably always will be, but even I was impressed by how well he has already adapted to the Gresini Ducati. With immediate passage to Q2 (his first in some time) and a P6 starting position on the grid, it looked like some of the old Marc Marquez was back to play, and luckily for us, he was. Marc placed 5th in the sprint and an even more mighty P4 in the feature race, putting himself squarely in the running for what would be an incredible title fight campaign. Of course, its early days, and the fact that Marc was able to do some pre-season testing on the Lusail circuit may have helped him achieve this excellent result, but there's hope. For the first time since 2020, I really do see the Marc Marquez of old, the one who challenged for championships like he was born for it, because he is. Marc Marquez is MotoGP, he's synonymous with the sport, and him being back to his best will only raise the sport higher. It's only the first race, but I'm already envisioning Marc Marquez, 2024 world champion. 

A girl can dream.

But who were our top 3 of the weekend? Well, that's where we encounter business as usual.

Jorge Martin left the 2023 season having come so close to glory, that when it all ended in the gravel trap in the final round, no one could begrudge him his tears of anguish and frustration. This year could be his redemption arc, and he was determined to seize every opportunity that came his way. He was dominant across the weekend leading the way in free practise 1, qualifying on pole and then tasting victory in the sprint on Saturday. It seemed as though he was destined to completely blot out his nightmare P10 finish from the 2023 Qatar round. 

But the reigning champion was not having it. Pecco had a rather anonymous opening to his second year defending a title, placing P10 in free practise 1, and P5 on the qualifying grid, when since 2022, it has been customary to see him line up on the front row of the grid before lights out. Then in the sprint, Bagnaia barely beat out Marc Marquez for P4, and it was starting to seem as though he maybe hadn't quite gotten up to speed after winter break. But of course, you should never doubt the reigning champion. As is so often Pecco's MO, he stormed to victory in Sunday's feature race, winning with a very healthy margin of 1.3 seconds over second place, and firmly putting himself at the top of the year's championship standings. 

So Pecco won... that must mean Martin was 2nd, right? Well...

Brad Binder has been the shining star for the final European factory in MotoGP ever since he joined our starting grid in 2020. He took a win for KTM in his debut season, and has always been dynamic to watch as he scythes his way through the packs of riders, usually making up for poor qualifying results with top 6 finishes. But maybe this year, Binder has managed to make the connection between good qualifying, and an easier job of making it to the podium in races. With a P4 start, there was no way he wasn't going to be on the podium, and the fact that he took P2 in both the sprint and the feature race means that Pecco and Martin must be scenting danger from the South African's title challenge. 

So it's Bagnaia, from Binder, from Martin at the top, with surprise challenges from Espargaro and Marquez in their midst and a lot of promise in young Acosta, to the misery of the Japanese factories at the bottom. Call me dramatic, but I for one am glad Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta are around to keep things interesting, or else we may as well just call this year the Ducati cup and be done with it. 

Can anyone bring the fight to Pecco Bagnaia, or will he make it a third premier class title in a row? Will Pedro Acosta take a race win in his debut season? Is Marc Marquez truly a title challenger for the first year since 2019? And when will we kick off the silly season for 2025?

So many questions, and so much time. This was only the opening round of MotoGP 2024. God I'm glad the bikes are back!