Fabio Di Giannantonio turned a difficult start into the fastest lap of Friday in Qatar, setting a 1:50.406 at Lusail for VR46 Ducati. The time established a new session and pre-qualifying lap record, taking 0.093 seconds from Marc Marquez’s 1:50.499 benchmark set in 2025. It was a strong recovery for the Italian, but not a complete answer to the problem that has followed his factory-specification Ducati GP26: outright speed on the straight remains conspicuously weak.

Marc Marquez ended the day second and Marco Bezzecchi third, putting Ducati and Aprilia at the head of the order. Francesco Bagnaia was fourth and consistent, while Raul Fernandez returned to action in fifth and Enea Bastianini was sixth. Jorge Martin completed 19 laps on Friday and was eighth. The Aprilia rider’s right wrist tolerated the two sessions after his difficulties in Malaysia, although the next steps of the weekend will provide a more demanding test.

The top ten earned direct passage to Q2: behind Martin came Johann Zarco, Ai Ogura and Brad Binder. The classification contained three Ducatis, all four Aprilias, two KTMs and one Honda. Fermín Aldeguer was 11th, Franco Morbidelli 12th, and Iker Lecuona 16th. Pedro Acosta and Maverick Viñales were outside the top ten in 14th and 15th respectively, while rookie Diogo Moreira was 17th. Only 18 riders took part, with the four Yamaha riders absent.

A record lap without the fastest Ducati

Di Giannantonio’s pace improved sharply during the afternoon. He was fastest on five occasions before producing the lap that put him at the top, after being around two seconds away from Marquez’s pace on used tyres earlier in the day. The contrast points to a set-up breakthrough rather than a simple advantage from the Lusail layout. Di Giannantonio said that several changes restored the feeling he had been missing, particularly under braking and at corner entry.

He described the result as “bittersweet”. The record and the improved behaviour of the motorcycle were reasons for satisfaction, but the sudden change from the morning pace also made him suspect that the VR46 team had made set-up mistakes at some of the recent Grands Prix. His conclusion was to concentrate on the positive work completed during the afternoon rather than dwell on those missed opportunities.

The speed-trap figures explain why the record does not settle every question around the GP26. Di Giannantonio was only 12th on maximum speed, 5.5km/h behind Lecuona on the sister GP26. His advantage therefore came in the parts of the lap where braking stability, turn-in and corner speed mattered, not from a corresponding gain on the straight. The motorcycle produced the overall lap time, but the top-speed gap remains a measurable limitation against the rest of the field.

Qualifying first, tyre choice after that

Di Giannantonio remains confident about the race. He believes Lusail generally suits his race pace and says he has traditionally managed tyre consumption well. His immediate priority, however, is qualifying: starting near the front is essential if the improved Friday pace is to become a practical race advantage. A record lap in pre-qualifying has value, but it cannot compensate for losing track position at the start.

Tyre behaviour will shape that calculation. Di Giannantonio said Ducati has found the medium compound more difficult to exploit than Aprilia, which appears to gain more from it. He considers the soft tyre capable of delivering a substantial one-lap performance, but expects it to lose more as it is used. That makes the soft a possible option for the shorter Sprint, where its initial performance could be more useful, while the medium remains an important part of the race discussion.

The Friday result should also be kept in context. The 1:50.406 is the new lap record for the session and pre-qualifying phase; the reported 2025 Lusail race record is a separate 1:52.561, also set by Marquez. Di Giannantonio has already shown that the GP26 can find time through the corners, and the team has recovered a much better feeling in a single day. Qualifying performance, sustained cornering speed and the tyre trade-off will determine whether that improvement becomes a genuine Qatar weekend advantage or remains one spectacular lap.