As the lights went out at the Losail, poleman Martin had a no-nonsense launch, comfortably taking the lead into turn 1. Meanwhile, Binder, with his trademark start, launched his RC16 into second position, ahead of Aleix Espargaro.
The opening lap saw Martin maintain his lead, with Binder aggressively trailing behind. However, the spotlight quickly turned to Marc Marquez, who, on his new Ducati saddle, quickly started to make progress.
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Meanwhile, the race witnessed an unfortunate setback as Fabio Di Giannantonio (Diggia), fresh from his previous season’s victory at the Losail circuit, crashed at Turn 10 during the second lap.
During the sixth lap, Marquez made a neat move on Espargaro, securing fourth position and igniting hopes for a podium finish in his Ducati debut.
By Lap 7, Martin continued to lead comfortably, with Binder trailing closely behind, albeit half a second adrift. However, the six-time premier class champion Marquez suffered a setback during the eighth lap on Turn 14, as he ran wide, subsequently losing his position to his compatriot. After that, Espargaro caught up to Bagnaia’s factory Ducati. The Italian couldn’t keep Espargaro from passing him, and eventually, the Aprilia rider moved into third place at Turn 15 during Lap 10.
Bagnaia finished on P4, ahead of a seemingly comfortable Marquez, who appeared to have enjoyed his debut Ducati ride. Enea Bastianini crossed the chequered flag at P6 ahead of Alex Marquez. Pedro Acosta, picked up a valuable two points on his premier class debut as Vinales clinched the last available point from the Qatar sprint.