The opening day of the 2022 MotoGP season is in the books, with Suzuki’s Alex Rins leading the way after two practice sessions. Here are Friday’s full results.
The 2022 season is scheduled to be the longest in MotoGP history, with 21 races set to be staged between 6 March and 6 November.
The opening round of the campaign takes place this weekend in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit, which has hosted MotoGP since 2004 and staged grand prix racing’s first-ever night race in 2008.
With an earlier schedule in place for this year’s event, which courted some criticism from riders – chiefly RNF Racing’s Andrea Dovizioso – FP1 and FP2 took place in completely different conditions.
2022 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix FP1 results
What happened in Qatar MotoGP FP1?
The first 45-minute session took place in blistering sunshine in the afternoon, with KTM’s Brad Binder fastest with a 1m54.851s ahead of LCR Honda’s Takaak Nakagami and the Suzuki of Alex Rins.
Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia crashed in FP1, with the 2021 runner-up switching to an older engine in his Ducati for the rest of the season.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
2022 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix FP2 results
What happened in Qatar MotoGP FP2?
In the second 45-minute session, run under the floodlights, conditions were more representative of what will be seen in qualifying and the race on Saturday and Sunday.
Both Binder and Nakagami failed to make it into the top 10, though Rins led the day overall with a 1m53.432s set on his Suzuki.
He headed six-time world champion Marc Marquez on the radically revised Honda, with the second Suzuki of 2020 world champion Joan Mir completing the top three.
Pramac’s Jorge Martin – who will keep the 2022 engine in his GP22 – was the fastest of the Ducatis in fourth, with Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli fifth ahead of Jack Miller (Ducati), Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, reigning champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Honda’s Pol Espargaro and Bagnaia.