The Ducati Lenovo Team is ready to get back on track in Qatar for the final two days of pre-season testing and team-mates Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini are fizzing to go.
Preparations for the 2024 MotoGP World Championship resume for the Ducati Lenovo Team at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.
In fact, at the track located just a few kilometres from Doha and which will host the inaugural Grand Prix of the new season on March 10, the final two days of pre-season testing will take place this week.
For Ducati team-mates Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, the two free practice sessions of eight hours each will be an opportunity to continue the development of their Desmosedici GPs in 2024 configuration that began a few weeks ago at Sepang during the first three days of testing for this year.
During the Qatar test, it will also be crucial to start the fine-tuning work on the bikes ahead of the first race weekend, which, as usual, will take place at night at Lusail.
“We are very close to the start of the Championship, and these last two days will be crucial,” said Bagnaia.
“At Sepang, we managed to do a great job, but we still haven’t reached 100%. I would say, however, that we have come very close and that the development is at a good 80%. Here in Qatar, the goal will be to reconfirm the feeling we had in Malaysia and then start working ahead of the race weekend. We have two very intense days ahead of us, but I am confident this test will also provide positive feedback.”
Bastianini was feeling similarly upbeat.
“The test in Malaysia went well and was very important,” said Bastianini.
“We found good weather and managed to complete the three-day program. Now, we’ll have another two days of testing in Qatar, and they’ll be just as important.
“The program will be more or less the same as Sepang: being a different track and having different conditions, we’ll try the same items again to collect new data to compare and understand how the bike behaves.
“In addition, it will also be important to start working for the first GP that will be held here in Lusail in a few weeks’ time”.
Photo courtesy Ducati
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MotoGP World Championship Final 2023 standings:
| Position | Entrant | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 11 | 467.00 |
| 2 | Jorge Martin Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 13 | 428.00 |
| 3 | Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 4 | 329.00 |
| 4 | Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 2 | 290.00 |
| 5 | Johann Zarco Prima Pramac Racing (GP23) | 1 | 221.00 |
| 6 | Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 3 | 206.00 |
| 7 | Maverick Vinales Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 204.00 | |
| 8 | Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team (GP22) | 201.00 | |
| 9 | Alex Marquez Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 2 | 177.00 |
| 10 | Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 172.00 | |
| 11 | Jack Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 163.00 | |
| 12 | Fabio di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP22) | 1 | 158.00 |
| 13 | Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) | 102.00 | |
| 14 | Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 96.00 | |
| 15 | Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 1 | 84.00 |
| 16 | Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 76.00 | |
| 17 | Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 71.00 | |
| 18 | Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU (RC213V) | 56.00 | |
| 19 | Alex Rins LCR Honda CASTROL (RC213V) | 1 | 54.00 |
| 20 | Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team (RS-GP22) | 51.00 | |
| 21 | Dani Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) | 32.00 | |
| 22 | Joan Mir Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 26.00 | |
| 23 | Pol Espargaro GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 15.00 | |
| 24 | Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 12.00 | |
| 25 | Jonas Folger GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 (RC16) | 9.00 | |
| 26 | Stefan Bradl Team HRC (RC213V) | 8.00 | |
| 27 | Michele Pirro Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 5.00 | |
| 28 | Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo Team (GP23) | 5.00 | |
| 29 | Cal Crutchlow Yamalube RS4GP Team | 3.00 | |
| 30 | Iker Lecuona Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) | 0.00 | |
| 31 | Alvaro Bautista Aruba.it Racing (GP23) | 0.00 |