MotoGP Qatar GP: Bagnaia dominates from Binder; Marquez fourth

Sprint winner Jorge Martin got the holeshot from pole position on his Pramac Ducati, but Bagnaia got an even better launch from fifth on the grid to slot into second position.

Eager not to allow Martin to run away at the front, Bagnaia wasted little time in making a move on his 2023 title rival, throwing his factory Ducati up the inside into Turn 4 to snatch the lead straight away.

While Martin kept the pressure up on Bagnaia early on, he soon got embroiled in a long battle with the KTM of Brad Binder, giving the Italian rider some breathing space to manage his tyres.

By lap 11, the two-time champion was over a second clear of the chasing pack and, although Binder was able to bring the gap down to under a second, Bagnaia was able to extend his advantage again en route to his 19th MotoGP victory.

Binder and Martin engaged in a long scrap for the best-of-the-rest, trading positions on a number of occasions and also bringing Marquez and Pedro Acosta into play in the battle for second.

In the end, Binder emerged on top in that battle, the KTM rider sealing the position when Martin ran wide at Turn 1 on lap 11.

Martin ended up 0.5s down at the finish after picking up his pace on the penultimate lap of the race.

Marquez enjoyed a similarly close battle with Tech3 GasGas's Acosta, with the KTM-backed rookie pulling off a stunning move at Turn 1 at the start of lap 12 to move into fourth position.

But Acosta ran wide through Losail's tight sequence of corners just two laps later, allowing Marquez back through into fourth - a position the eight-time world champion carried to the finish to round off a promising maiden weekend on the Gresini Ducati.

Acosta's pace dropped significantly in the final quarter of the race, with both Gresini's Alex Marquez and factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini demoting him into Turn 1 on lap 16.

The younger Marquez and Bastianini then engaged in a battle of their own, with the latter taking the honours on a day his team-mate Bagnaia was untouchable at the front.

Acosta eventually finished ninth on his grand prix debut, having dropped behind both VR46's Fabio di Giannantonio and Aleix Espargaro in the latter stages of the race.

Espargaro's chances of a victory at the Losail International Circuit ended with a frustrating start from second on the grid which left him down in ninth at the end of the opening lap.

He could only recover to eighth, finishing 11s off the lead on the top Aprilia. His team-mate Maverick Vinales rounded out the top 10 behind rookie Acosta.

Fabio Quartararo salvaged an 11th-place result on the factory Yamaha following a squabble with the Honda of Joan Mir, who eventually was classified 13th behind new LCR signing Johann Zarco.

Marco Bezzecchi was classified 14th on the VR46 Ducati, while Trackhouse's Miguel Oliveira was able to recover from a long-lap penalty - a result of a clash with Espargaro in last year's Valencia GP - to claim the final point in 15th.

Jack Miller was the last of the classified finishers in 21st after suffering a crash at Turn 1 on lap 2.

The race was delayed when Raul Fernandez encountered an unspecified mechanical issue on his Trackhouse Aprilia at the original start.

After a long discussion with the track officials, Fernandez wheeled his 2023-spec RS-GP to the pitlane, with the remaining riders completing another formation lap before the race could get going properly - with one lap reduced from the total count. 

Fernandez later became the only retirement of the race when he returned to the pits on lap 17.