Qatar MotoGP, Lusail – Race Results

*Rookie.

A soon-to-be unemployed Fabio di Giannantonio has taken a fairytale debut MotoGP victory, despite a mysterious dashboard message, by wining a Qatar duel with Francesco Bagnaia.

But Bagnaia has still put one hand on the 2023 world championship by pulling 21 points clear of title rival Jorge Martin heading into the Valencia finale.

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Bagnaia bolted to an early lead, with only di Giannantonio stepping up to challenge the reigning champion.

The Gresini rider clung to Bagnaia’s slipstream but was sent a ‘mapping 8’ message with 5 laps to go.

It was the same message Jorge Lorenzo received for team orders in 2017, suggesting Ducati wanted di Giannantonio to hold position behind Bagnaia… Or did it?

di Giannantonio’s crew chief Frankie Carchedi told pitlane reporter Simon Crafar: “We sent a message because he [di Giannantonio] wanted to know when there were 5 laps left in the race. It wasn’t anything special. I think people have got the wrong idea.”

Either way, di Giannantonio squeezed past Bagnaia with 4 laps remaining. Bagnaia then tried to fight back and ran wide at Turn 1, but rejoined in a safe second.

Luca Marini repeated his Saturday result in third while Martin limped home in tenth, staring at his rear tyre as he crossed the line.

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Just a day earlier, momentum had been firmly with Martin after the Pramac rider’s Sprint win slashed Bagnaia’s lead to just seven points.

But when the red lights went out, Bagnaia made a dream start to pass the front row and grab the holeshot into Turn 1, while Martin suffered a wheelspin nightmare and dropped to eighth.

Bagnaia then held command up front but was reeled in by di Giannantonio, the pair pulling comfortably clear of a big fight for third.

Meanwhile, Martin was in trouble throughout.

After briefly rising to sixth, the Spaniard’s pace went off a cliff. Among the slowest on track, Martin was picked off by Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller and Enea Bastianini.

Martin’s team-mate Johann Zarco almost tripped over the sister machine on several occasions as he tried not to pass, the Frenchman later clipping the back of Marc Marquez.

Hard tyres front and rear were expected to be used by all 21 riders for the full-length race but pole qualifier Luca Marini, Yamaha team-mates Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli plus Iker Lecuona stuck with the soft front.

RNF’s Miguel Oliveira was absent due to a broken right shoulder blade, after triggering an opening lap incident involving Aleix Espargaro and Enea Bastianini on Saturday.

Oliveira, who has received a Long Lap penalty, is unlikely to ride a MotoGP bike again until 2024.

“4

Espargaro sustained ‘a small fracture at the top of the left fibula’ but was cleared to ride on Sunday.

The sore Aprilia star began the race from 16th on the grid, rather than 10th – as part of a penalty for slapping Franco Morbidelli’s helmet in Saturday practice – but retired from the back of the field early on.

Both Bagnaia and Martin have used their Official Warning for low tyre pressure and – like Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli, Raul Fernandez, Iker Lecuona, Pol Espargaro, Marco Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargaro – will receive a post-race time penalty for any further infringements.

Warnings and/or punishments for illegal tyre pressures in today’s race will take a few hours to be announced by the FIM Stewards.

The Valencia season finale and title decider starts on Friday.