Marc Marquez has his first chance to secure an eighth MotoGP world title in Qatar, but Friday offered little reason to relax. The Ducati rider ended Practice second overall and described the championship opportunity as “still far” from being settled.

The numbers required to clinch the title this weekend are demanding: Marquez must score 30 points more than Jorge Martin and eight more than Marco Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi showed strong pace on his Aprilia, while VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio led Friday’s times and set a new lap record.

Marquez said Bezzecchi is pushing hard because he has nothing to protect, while Martin remains competitive despite his injury. His assessment was that three or four riders had both very high pace and consistency. That leaves his priority with Ducati’s work and finding improvements, rather than trying to calculate the championship outcome too early.

Marquez also lost track time when the chain broke on one of his motorcycles. He did not disclose the cause, but regarded the timing as positive because the failure appeared during Practice. He said Ducati would evaluate the problem and repair it for the rest of the race weekend.