Ready, set... race! As the sun goes down, the lights go out at Lusail

2022-02-28 09:14
MotoGP™ is back in business as the Qatar GP kicks off the 2022 season – with spectacle guaranteed
Monday, 28 February 2022
2021 saw every manufacturer take home a podium and heralded some of the closest top-15 finishes of all time. More records were broken, new winners emerged, and a few precedents were set. France got its first premier class World Champion. We bid a racing farewell to legends and winners. But that's already a chapter in the history books, and now we're about to open the cover on 2022 and welcome the new. As we do, the title page bears a simple message: welcome back to the greatest show on Earth. Please keep your hands and feet inside the rollercoaster at all times.

It's Lusail International Circuit that hosts the now iconic floodlit opening round, and in 2022 there are 24 riders waiting for the lights to go out – 14 of whom are World Champions, which is a new record. Five are premier class rookies, 12 are premier class race winners. One has eight World Championships. One wears the crown. Another signed off 2021 with the momentum. And yet more have reset, recharged and come back to the fight with a little more in the tank for 2022...

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) must lead the headlines as both the reigning Champion and a winner at the track in 2021. Yamaha is the most successful manufacturer at Lusail and they took both victories at the track last year, so that's also a good omen for Quartararo, Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), two-time Qatar winner Andrea Dovizioso (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™) and his new teammate, rookie Darryn Binder. But pre-season testing saw a few glances of discontent for the Iwata marque in their ongoing battle to increase top speed, among other things, and it seemed reviews were mixed. Now the proof of the testing will be in the racing, so what have Yamaha got in the locker... and will there remain harmony between man and machine?

For many races in the latter half of 2021, and ominously at times, that harmony was personified elsewhere: Ducati. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had a few stumbles on his way to the top step in the premier class, but when he did get there, he couldn't keep away. After an all-Ducati podium to round out the season as well, the momentum was steamrolling and hopes will remain high going into 2022. Testing wasn't the all-out assault on the timesheets some expected, but then cards may well remain close to chests. Bagnaia, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP), Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) are quite an experienced armada for the Bologna factory, and Lusail is tied as their second most successful track. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) both look pretty pacy too, adding some extra intrigue to the fight for Rookie of the Year.

So what of Suzuki? By comparison to Yamaha most especially, it was a fairly glowing preseason for the Hamamatsu factory. Smiles, gains, and quietly confident progress seemed to sum it up for 2020 MotoGP™ World Champion Joan Mir and teammate Alex Rins, with one thing on their shopping list – more power – seemingly delivered. In Qatar, Suzuki haven't finished better than fourth so a podium would be a good way to underline said progress and start building some foundations. Both Mir and Rins will also be exceptionally keen to avoid a repeat of what happened on the line to the number 36 last year as two Ducatis pipped Mir to the post.

Someone who knows that feeling at Lusail is eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). The number 93 has more MotoGP™ wins than the rest of the grid combined, but a couple have got away in Qatar courtesy of Dovizioso and time will tell whether the 2022 edition will prove different. It's been a long road to recovery but recovered the Honda rider is, and facing that down could be enough of a challenge for the rest of the grid on its own. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) looks to have made a key step with the all-new RC213V too, and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) will be looking to prove the same.

For KTM, Lusail isn't the best place to start the season, having never been the kindest match for the RC16. The Austrian factory's best result at the track is a P8. However, new Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Francesco Guidotti already stated in testing that the plan is to find a new foundation from which to continue development, so Qatar being another different track is useful in itself. The talent pool is too: Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira remain at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and both look to make 2022 the third year in a row they've both taken premier class wins. There are two new kids on the block at Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing as well: 2021 Moto2™ Champion Remy Gardner and the rookie who nearly beat him to the crown, Raul Fernandez. They'll be looking to hit the ground running.

Finally, Aprilia. Now MotoGP™ podium finishers and heading into 2022 with a new, leaner, and reportedly further improved RS-GP, pre-season saw the Noale factory steal plenty of headlines. Aleix Espargaro is now an established frontrunner with the marque and took the factory's best result at Lusail of a sixth place, but Maverick Viñales is a little more settled in now too. The number 12 was also the rider on the top step in the 2021 season opener, and has won at Lusail before that too, albeit with a different manufacturer. Can Aprilia come out swinging? Will the top five or the podium beckon? Who will come out on top in the battle of the teammates? We're about to find out!

As ever, the engines roar for race day once the sun's gone down in Doha, and it's 18:00 (GMT +3) local time when the field will thunder towards Turn 1 for the first time this season. So join us for another spectacular on Sunday, and keep up with Free Practice and qualifying once the premier class action begins at 13:40 on Friday.
MANDALIKA TEST: TOP 3
1 Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) - Honda - 1:31.060
2 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) - Yamaha - +0.014
3 Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) - Ducati - +0.229
Moto2™ take on the new kid on the block
After ominous pace in testing, it's time for Acosta saddle up in the intermediate class – and for his rivals to see how they measure up
If Moto3™ were singing "How do you solve a problem like Acosta?" last year, pre-season testing tells us it's the turn of Moto2™ in 2022. The reigning lightweight class Champion has gone from incredible rookie in one class to seemingly exactly the same in another, topping testing in Portugal and ominous from the start. Given Doha is where the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider began his World Championship career last year with a second place and then that awe-inspiring win from pitlane, the now number 51 is likely walking the tallest into Lusail International Circuit.

The intermediate class, however, is a different challenge in many ways. Tyres, tactics... there's usually no freight train and laptimes are crafted. But Raul Fernandez is the example that will most interest Acosta, and there's no reason to believe this year's Red Bull KTM Ajo rookie can't turn his established speed into race-long pace. So who'll be looking to stop him?

Teammate Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) will be one. He's now the Ajo machine sporting the number 37, and with some wins and podiums under his belt already, Fernandez has proven speed. It seems the Spaniard had to compromise and ride within the limit at times in 2021 though, and while that's a compromise every rider makes, Fernandez will be looking to unlock the margin that's made him look on rails at times in the past. Now in the team that dominated last year, will change breed more glory?

For Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), meanwhile, the hope will be in continuity – and recovering from tendonitis in his wrist in pre-season. The Brit won both Grands Prix at Lusail last season for some good omens though, so if Lowes is limited the venue is a kinder one. Tony Arbolino will be interesting to watch too as he takes over as Lowes' teammate, with the Italian having shown flashes of pace but now looking to make a step up.

Flashes of pace isn't quite enough to describe the now multitude of podiums for Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40), but the Spaniard is intent on the top step and a title charge in 2022. He's been quick in preseason and seems to have settled in at the team, with Jorge Navarro alongside. Jake Dixon, who heads for Inde GASGAS Aspar Team, also looked quick in testing, and it seems his new teammate, Albert Arenas, has taken a step forward too. The likes of Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) will be looking to head that off and aim squarely for the podium, however, and the names of those who could bring some noise in 2022 just keep on coming.

Americans Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) are two who will be interesting to watch. The latter now seems in the groove in Moto2™, and the former appears to have a little mojo back. That could prove quite a serious issue for his rivals in Qatar, as Roberts' form at Lusail catapulted him to his first pole position in 2020, which was also the first for an American in 10 years. He went on to take his best result at the time of a fourth place too. Since, he's been on the podium but only once, so could the stage be set?

Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up), meanwhile, finds himself between a rock and hard place in some ways, as the reigning Moto2™ European Champion has done too many events to be classed as a rookie. And yet, he hasn't taken on Lusail. With good experience in the class already though, he'll want to have the jump on those who will be fighting to be top debutant this season, and there are ten of them.

Alongside Acosta, fellow Moto3™ graduates Niccolo Antonelli (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2), Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) make the move, and Alessandro Zaccone (Gresini Racing Moto2) goes from MotoE™ to Moto2™ after a successful switch of WorldSSP for MotoE™. Manuel Gonzalez cuts out the middle man there and comes straight from WorldSSP to Moto2™ with the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team, and he'll be alongside Keminth Kubo as the Thai rider moves from the Moto2™ European Championship.

At American Racing, Sean Dylan Kelly arrives from Supersport in his home US of A, and then finally, Zonta van den Goorbergh makes a mammoth move as the Dutchman goes from Moto3™ Junior to Moto2™ World Championship. The range of CVs and riders will definitely make for some interesting viewing in 2022, but can anyone get close to following Acosta's lead?

Moto2™ take centre stage at Lusail at 16:20 (GMT +3) on Sunday. Make sure to tune in as the unique mixture of pace and pressure hits boiling point in the desert, with Acosta staring down another chance at a little history and the rest of the field looking to get in his way.
TESTING: TOP 3
1 Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) - Kalex - 1'41.552
2 Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) - Kalex - +0.154
3 Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) - Kalex - +0.267
Veterans vs rookies: who will vie for victory in Qatar?
The experienced runners look to start their campaigns for the crown as an influx of new talent joins Moto3™
2021 was a milestone year for Moto3™, with a year-long battle ultimately won by a rookie sensation on the way to breaking some incredible records. But that was then and this is now, with said sensation now firmly Moto2™'s problem and the throne looking for a new name. The long road to deciding who will reign in 2022 begins now and it begins at Lusail International Circuit.

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), the 2021 runner up and rider with the most Moto3™ wins – six – will be keen to start off on a high. The Italian was fastest in testing too, and arrives with some serious momentum built in the latter half of last year. Sergio Garcia (Gavita GASGAS Aspar Team), who likewise challenged for the

Source: Dorna Sports

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