Maverick Viñales finished Sunday’s race in 4th position. The Spanish rider had a difficult start to the race, with Jorge Martín making overtaking difficult for the Aprilia Racing rider. Once Maverick Viñales had passed, the Prima Pramac Racing rider recovered a gap of more than 3 seconds to Luca Marini and finished in contention for the podium at the Qatar GP.

In his debrief, the rider spoke about the race and the feelings he had during the race at the Losail circuit.

– ‘ I think it was a positive race for us. I was able to ride the bike very well today and the most important thing was that we were able to identify our difficulties and solve them. At the start of the race I couldn’t overtake Jorge because of the usual problem, tire pressure increasing with the temperature, but as soon as I overtook him the pressure returned to normal and I had another response from the bike. Our goal this winter will be to find a rocket start system.

Asked about his opinion of this circuit and the new conditions in Qatar, Maverick replied: ‘The new asphalt is fantastic here. When there’s new asphalt there’s always something extra in the grip and it’s easier to ride with fewer bumps. The bike was incredible this weekend and we rode very well today, even in Sepang I was very positive because we were able to identify our difficulties and solve them, it was the same here. From this step we’ve taken we’ve been able to grow a lot, the engineers just need to improve the starting system and we’re fine. I tried to get into third place, at turn 15 I even pushed early to overtake him (Marini), but I couldn’t do it. I know what I can do, I have the potential to win races, it’s true that the Ducati is on another level, but we have to keep improving.

O conteúdo ‘The most important thing was that we were able to identify our difficulties and solve them’ – Maverick Viñales aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró in his debrief was confronted with the event that took place on Saturday between the Spanish rider and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Franco Morbidelli, which resulted in a penalty of six grid positions lost.

– ‘ I apologize and I’m ashamed of my actions, obviously I accept responsibility and blame, my idea wasn’t to overtake him, but just to let him go. For me, it’s not fair to draw conclusions from the last five seconds of what happened. Franco has been on the circuit for a year without any respect for anyone, in the last race he went at his teammate and didn’t get a penalty, then with Marc he called him a dog, and finally he went at me three times when I was trying to get back on track and he wouldn’t let me, three times. Anyway, I reacted badly and I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I don’t think it’s fair to judge the last five seconds of what happened. The worst thing for me was that at the end of it all he came to speak badly about my family and my children, I’m very angry.

The Aprilia Racing rider came into this weekend with high expectations and wanted to achieve a positive result. Unfortunately, during the Qatar GP, Aleix Espargaró had a racing incident with Miguel Oliveira in the Sprint that left him physically limited and he ended up withdrawing from Sunday’s race.

O conteúdo ‘Franco has been on the circuit for a year without any respect for anyone’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Miguel Oliveira faced numerous challenges throughout the 2023 MotoGP season, especially during this final phase of the year. Results and performances fell well below expectations, he experienced retirements, and in yesterday’s Qatar GP Sprint race, he sustained another injury, prematurely ending his season.

Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, told Sky Italia MotoGP that several factors contribute to the Portuguese rider’s difficult period:

– I think there was a mix of things ranging from his personal life, the birth of his son, Pedro, to market rumors and his physical condition. It’s a combination of factors that can make you lose some confidence, costing you half a second with the same bike, resulting in losing three to four rows on the grid.

O conteúdo Massimo Rivola on Miguel Oliveira’s struggles: ‘It’s a combination of things’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Maverick Viñales led the warm-up of the MotoGP Qatar GP. It was a session in daytime that riders used to fine-tune the final details before the main race.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati) was the first leader, ahead of Viñales (Aprilia), who was later overtaken by Raúl Fernández (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia).

Lap times improved as Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) later took the top spot, with Viñales returning to second, and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) climbing to third place.

With less than two minutes until the checkered flag, there were further changes, with Zarco back in the lead, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) in second, and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) in third.

On his penultimate lap, Viñales reclaimed the lead, clocking in 0.236s faster than Zarco, and the positions remained unchanged until the end. Quartararo also held on to the third position.

Meanwhile, Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) climbed to fourth, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) to fifth. As for the title contenders, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) secured ninth place, and Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) finished in 16th.

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Maverick Viñales set the pace in the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix warm-up aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After sustaining a fracture in his left fibula, Aleix Espargaró has been declared fit for the MotoGP Qatar GP and can participate in the warm-up session in Losail.

The Aprilia rider will undergo further examination following this session before making a final decision regarding his participation in the main race later in the afternoon.

Espargaró was involved in a heavy crash at the sixth corner of the Sprint race, where he was rear-ended by Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia), sending him flying off his bike.

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaró declared fit… but still in doubt for the Qatar GP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The second free practice of the MotoGP Qatar GP was marked by controversy between Aleix Espargaró and Franco Morbidelli. The Spanish rider from Aprilia felt hindered by the slow pace of the Monster Energy Yamaha rival in the racing line, even slapping his helmet on the track.

The gesture earned him strong criticism from Morbidelli and a six-place grid penalty for the main race in Losail. On social media, Espargaró admitted he didn’t deal well with the situation and had an unnecessary reaction, losing his temper with the Italian:

– Here I am with my leg up. The truth is, it was a day to forget, first with the incident with Morbidelli, where I had a very bad reaction. He was cruising on the track, nearly hit me twice for going in the middle of the trajectory. Then he didn’t let me back on the track, and I lost my temper with a totally disproportionate reaction and received a penalty, which in my view is too much, but I accept it because obviously the image is not good.

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaró admits he had a ‘totally disproportionate reaction’ with Franco Morbidelli aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The second free practice of the MotoGP Qatar GP was marked by an incident between Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaró, in which the Aprilia rider slapped the helmet of his rival, resulting in a penalty of six grid positions for the main race. A penalty considered insufficient by the Monster Energy Yamaha rider, who felt deeply disrespected.

Morbidelli explained to the press what happened: ‘Álex Márquez crashed in turn two and there was a yellow flag, so [Jorge] Martín in front of me slowed down, I slowed down as well. But by the time we reached turn four Aleix overtook me and then I overtook him back because I wanted to get back my original position. And then he overtook me like crazy into the turn six, almost crashing and almost making me crash. He touched me’.

Then, the Italian strongly criticized the disrespect he felt he had been subjected to by Espargaró: ‘Then when I was trying to tell him to take it easy – because as always after he banged on me, he got angry and started to make bad gestures as he always does. When I was telling him to take it easy and to chill out, he did what you saw. It’s a huge disrespect action towards me, it’s difficult to take, but I take it’.

As for the penalty given to Espargaró, Morbidelli considers it to be too light: ‘The stewards have been analysing everything and they already took the countermeasures that they thought were more right. According to me, they did nothing, because what they did actually was to put him by my side in tomorrow’s race [starting grid] and make him race in today’s race as if nothing happened. So for me they did nothing, because what he did today it’s a big disrespect towards another competitor that in other sport would have been treated in a much different way. So it’s OK, I keep going’.

O conteúdo Franco Morbidelli slams Aleix Espargaró: ‘It was a huge disrespect from him; the stewards did nothing’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Early in the first lap of the MotoGP Qatar GP Sprint race, two riders were forced to retire in an incident involving a total of four bikes. The situation is under review by the race stewards.

Available footage shows Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) being hit from behind and sent flying, with Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia) being the one making contact.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) were also in that area and caught up in the incident. Bastianini fell but managed to continue the race. Currently, the incident is being examined by the stewards, and it’s possible that penalties may result for one or more of those involved.

O conteúdo First-lap incident in the Qatar GP Sprint race under review by race stewards aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Two riders didn’t finish the first lap of the MotoGP Qatar GP: Aleix Espargaró and Miguel Oliveira, due to an incident in which Enea Bastianini was also involved.

It all happened at the turn six of the Losail circuit. Apparently, Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia) touched Espargaró’s Aprilia, causing the Spaniard to lose control of his bike and crash. Both riders had to retire.

Running closely, Bastianini (Ducati) couldn’t avoid being caught in the incident and also crashed. However, he managed to continue the race.

You can watch or rewatch the final part of the incident in the following video.

O conteúdo Video: Crash takes Aleix Espargaró and Miguel Oliveira out in the first lap of the Qatar GP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

In an unusual behavior, Aleix Espargaró lost his temper with Franco Morbidelli during the second free practice of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix.

The two collided approaching a turn, where the Italian from Monster Energy Yamaha was in front of Espargaró’s Aprilia but slower on the ideal trajectory.

Displeased, Espargaró confronted Morbidelli on the track and even slapped his helmet, a gesture that could be considered an aggression. The Spaniard was penalized six positions.

Watch the moment in question.

O conteúdo Video: The moment Aleix Espargaró aggresses Franco Morbidelli aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.