Martin leads FP1 in Qatar as Ducati lock out the top three positions

Free Practice 1 got underway with title contenders Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia on circuit together.

Bagnaia, who holds a 14-point advantage over the Pramac Ducati rider, was following the Spaniard who was also behind Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli.

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After a five-crash weekend at Sepang, Aleix Espargaro’s start to the Qatar round was no better as he crashed at turn 14.

At the top of the leaderboard, Martin went fastest after clearing Morbidelli and Bastianini.

The Spaniard went half a second clear of RNF Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez, while fellow Ducati rider Alex Marquez fell at turn four. 

After losing top spot to Fabio Di Giannantonio, Martin was then pushed down to third as Bastianini set the first 1m 57s lap of the weekend. 

Bastianini was quickly demoted to second however, as reigning world champion Bagnaia joined him with a high 1m 57s time. 

Marco Bezzecchi had a scare at turn two as he picked up the bike and ran off circuit. 

At the front, Bagnaia was still the leader from Bastianini until 15 minutes to go as Di Giannantonio went top by just over a tenth. 

Di Giannantonio then set a very impressive lap to go even faster and four tenths clear of Bagnaia.

Espargaro looked set to challenge Di Giannantonio before slotting into fourth place. 

Fighting for his MotoGP future, Di Giannantonio was in no mood to hang around as he set a new fastest time for the third consecutive lap.

Di Giannantonio went six tenths quicker than his previous best which was enough to take him clear of Bagnaia by 1.1 seconds.

After narrowly missing out on top spot, Martin then went quickest by four tenths as Augusto Fernandez, who was also on a very fast lap crashed in sector four.