LOSAIL, Qatar — Just over a year from the tragic passing of Fausto Gresini, Enea Bastianini won Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix for the Gresini Racing MotoGP team under the lights at the Losail Circuit.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) produced a terrific ride to finish second, the South African finished 0.3 seconds away from the win, with Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) completing the podium on the opening night of the season.
The moment we’d all been waiting for burst into life as pole-sitter Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) got a poor start, as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) grabbed the holeshot from the outside of the front row. His teammate, Espargaro, was then the early race leader. Brad Binder made a great start to go to third with Bastianini riding fourth.
Binder made a run at Bastianini on the last lap, but came up short at the finish as the Italian powered his GP21 out the final corner and took an incredible, emotional victory under the lights in Qatar, the perfect tribute to the late, great Fausto Gresini.
Binder’s second-place run is something no one was expecting during pre-season testing, but the South African, as he so often does, pulled a rabbit out the hat when it mattered most.
A sensational third place was secured and Pol Espargaro, after leading for so long, held onto a fantastic podium – his second with HRC.
Aleix Espargaro was 0.8 seconds away from the rostrum, but became the Aprilia rider to finish closest to victory. Marc Marquez’s return to action for the first time since 2019 in Qatar was celebrated with a solid fifth-place effort.