IT’S RACE WEEK! Yes, you read that right. For the first Monday since Monday, November 20th, 2023, we can finally say that we are going racing this week! Wow. That feels pretty good! After a winter period that most of us will say was too long, and a testing period that we will all agree was too long, it is finally time for riders and teams to go racing, and we could not be more excited to go back doing what we all love! Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 is heading to Doha in Qatar for the opening round of the 2024 MotoGP™ World Championship, the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar.
One of the most exciting prospects that MotoGP™ has seen over the last few years, Pedro Acosta, is set to make his debuts in the main class, after two very promising tests in both Malaysia and Qatar. The two time-World Champion (Moto3™ in 2021, Moto2™ in 2023) stole the headlines during the winter period with his impressive ability to adapt and learn quickly about the MotoGP™ category. The one we call the Shark of Mazarron, ended the Sepang Shakedown as the fastest rider, was in the top 10 all three days of the Sepang Test as he was joined on track by La Crème de la Crème, before he went on and clocked his fastest lap at Qatar Test with a 1’52.046, just 0.284 seconds from the official all-time lap record held by Luca Marini (2023 Qatar GP). The hype seems real. But testing is just testing, and we are all excited to see the rookie race for the first time in MotoGP™, while we also must remain grounded, as a long learning period awaits the young rider and his crew. One thing is sure, this weekend will be historical for Acosta.
Alongside MotoGP™’s new 31, there will be Augusto Fernandez, officially storing away in the cloakroom his rookie suit, as the Spaniard will launch himself into his second season in the main class, after an impressive first campaign that saw him score seventy-one points and finish fourth of the French Grand Prix, his best result to date in MotoGP™. The winter testing did not go as well as the number 37 would have hoped, after he went through a few difficulties to adapt to the 2024 package, but hard work pays off, and it is going to pay off. Fernandez has shown in 2023 that he gets stronger as the weekends go by, so the first round of 2024 will be a first test for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider to measure the progress made during the tests. One thing is sure, the 2024 GASGAS RC16 has seen tremendous upgrades which will give GASGAS Tech3 riders the opportunity to become even more competitive this season.
You don’t want to miss the season opener as Qatar is set to host the first show of the championship, under the floodlights of Lusail International Circuit. MotoGP™ will roar again, for good, when Practice 1 starts on Friday at 15:45 (GMT+3), before the one hour Practice at 20:00 sees riders fight for a direct ticket to the final qualifying stage. On Saturday, the action will resume at 14:00 with Practice 2, before we get to watch the first qualifying of the season, from 14:40. Later on, the exciting Tissot Sprint will be back for the first time as riders will go all in for eleven laps at night, at 19:00. Finally, finally, finally. The main race (twenty-two laps), will see the best riders of the world fight for the first big points on the grab as lights of the main race will go out at 20:00 (GMT+3). We have goosebumps already.
MAY THE SHOW COMMENCE!
