In pre-season testing last month, defending champion Francesco Bagnaia recorded record speeds at Sepang and Losail on the updated Ducati GP24.
This feat presented a stiff challenge for 2024 MotoGP contenders.
Ducati's dominance continued in the season's first grand prix, where Bagnaia won from sixth.
His win confirmed Ducati's dominance, but Brad Binder's second-place result suggested a threat.
Aprilia showed speed throughout the Qatar weekend,
with Aleix Espargaro finishing third in the sprint race on the RS-GP. However,
tire troubles prevented him from repeating this win in the main event.
From fifth place at Losail, Enea Bastianini saw that KTM's rebuilt RC16 in 2024 had closed the gap to the frontrunners. KTM's grand prix and sprint race performance made them formidable challengers to Aprilia, he said.