Bezzecchi strolls to victory in Qatar as Márquez extends championship lead
There had been drama long before the MotoGP riders took to the track in Lusail, as Yamaha officially withdrew its factory and satellite teams from the Qatar Grand Prix due to ongoing company-wide travel restrictions.
Both Alex Márquez and Joan Mir had already confirmed their absences from the event, with Iker Lecuona and Jake Dixon acting as their respective replacements, meaning that only 16 full-time riders made the journey to the Middle East.
With a partially fit Jorge Martín fighting through the pain to claim an incredible podium and Marc Márquez once again taking Sprint glory on Saturday, there was an opportunity for the Ducati rider to secure his eighth MotoGP title under the lights the following day. Here are all the key moments from an action-packed weekend.
Sprint Report
Starting from second on the grid, Márquez claimed his tenth Sprint win of the season in Qatar, but it was far from smooth sailing for the championship leader.
The initial start was red-flagged after a huge opening lap crash between Francesco Bagnaia, who had been enjoying his best weekend since the Czech Grand Prix, and Fermín Aldeguer.
The Spaniard misjudged his braking point heading into Turn 16, colliding with Bagnaia and sending the Italian spiralling through the air. Following the Sprint, it was announced that Bagnaia had suffered fractures to his right foot, subsequently sidelining him for the remainder of the weekend.
At the restart, Bagnaia’s teammate Márquez jumped polesitter Marco Bezzecchi off the line, but it was the other factory Aprilia of Jorge Martín that made significant progress. Still recovering from a fractured wrist sustained during the Australian Grand Prix, Martín had climbed from P11 to fourth by the end of Lap 3, finding a way past Pedro Acosta, Raul Fernández and Johann Zarco.
When Bezzecchi attempted to pass Márquez into Turn 1 on the following lap, resulting in the former crashing out of the race, Martín quickly capitalised, seizing the lead by overtaking both Márquez and Fabio di Giannantonio.
The Aprilia rider would end up ceding both of these positions before the end of the Sprint, but it was nevertheless a remarkable comeback from Martín, who limited the damage to his championship challenge and crossed the line in third behind Márquez and di Giannantonio.
Race Report
Bezzecchi held the lead off the start, but it was Fernández who made the most impressive getaway, overtaking Márquez in Turn 2 to surge from fourth to second. Di Giannantonio, meanwhile, who had joined Bezzecchi and Márquez on the front row, endured a disastrous opening lap, slipping back to ninth.
The leading pair of Bezzecchi and Fernández quickly began to streak away, pulling 1.7 seconds clear of Márquez by the end of Lap 2. The Ducati pilot soon came under pressure from the KTM of Acosta, who swept past his fellow Spaniard at Turn 15 on Lap 3.
However, Acosta was forced to surrender the position and allowed Márquez back through on Lap 6, seemingly due to concerns over tyre pressure. Further down the field, the battle for fifth between Enea Bastianini and Ai Ogura began to heat up as the race approached half-distance.
Although Martín failed to replicate the lightning start that he had made the previous day, he made progress on Lap 11, passing di Giannantonio for seventh. The Spaniard was, however, left with a significant gap to close to the riders in front, and was unable to make any further gains during the second half of the race.
Márquez posted the fastest lap of the Grand Prix on Lap 13, beginning to pull away from Acosta while steadily closing the gap to Fernández. In turn, the Trackhouse rider had gradually started to lose contact with Bezzecchi at the front.
Further back, the scrap between Ogura and Bastianini continued, as the Japanese pilot moved up to fifth on Lap 15 before quickly passing Acosta for fourth, with the Spaniard still appearing to be struggling with his tyre pressures.
Diogo Moreira became the first retirement of the race, adding to Honda's woes after Luca Marini had announced earlier on Sunday that he would not start the Grand Prix due to fatigue, and the Brazilian was soon joined by Brad Binder who also returned to the pits.
Acosta's issues continued in the closing laps as he slipped behind Bastianini, while Márquez maintained his charge towards the front. With three laps remaining, the Ducati rider made his move on Fernández, blasting past the Aprilia out of the final corner to take second.
A faultless Bezzecchi took the chequered flag in first, crossing the finish line 3.083 seconds clear of Márquez in second to record Aprilia's first-ever win in Qatar, with Fernández rounding out the podium.
Ogura came home in fourth to give Aprilia three riders in the top four, while Bastianini secured fifth for the second successive Grand Prix, matching his result from Malaysia. Acosta eventually ended up in sixth, ahead of Martín, di Giannantonio, Zarco and Lecuona, who completed the top ten.
Despite taking victory, Bezzecchi's title hopes have effectively ended as he now trails Márquez by 74 points in the standings. The Italian would need to take maximum points from the final two rounds of the season, while simultaneously hoping that Márquez did not pick up a singular one.
Meanwhile, Martín's P7 extends Márquez's margin at the top of the championship to 60 points, but the Aprilia man's result was enough to ensure that the title fight rumbles on to the penultimate round at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimão, which takes place on Sunday 22 November 2026 at 13:00 GMT.
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