MotoGP Qatar GP: Marc Marquez takes dominant sprint race win from brother Alex

Marc Marquez makes it four sprint race wins in a row at the Qatar MotoGP

Marc Marquez reclaimed the lead of the MotoGP world championship after leading every lap from pole position in the sprint race at the Qatar GP.

The victory marked his fourth successive sprint win over his brother and previous championship leader Alex Marquez at the start of 2025.

Franco Morbidelli came home in third for the VR46 Ducati team, while Marquez’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia could only manage eighth following a disastrous qualifying crash.

While Marquez did lead every lap after rocketing away into first place at the start, he briefly found himself behind Alex at the start of the second lap. The younger Marquez’s pass at the Turn 1 brought no lasting joy, however, as he ran slightly wide and Marc reclaimed the advantage.

As Alex feigned looks up the inside at the same spot over the next couple of laps, Marc’s pace finally ground him down. It would be yet another sprint second for Alex, who now trails Marc by two points in the championship.

Fabio Quartararo got the good start he had hoped for from the front row, slotting his Yamaha into third place behind the dominant Marquez pair. But he was only able to hold onto it for a lap for Morbidelli flew past when the field returned to the pit straight for the first time.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Morbidelli looked comfortable ahead of Quartararo for most of the race, but suddenly had to work to defend his podium on the final lap. Not only was Quartararo mounting a late challenge, but remarkable rookie Fermin Aldeguer had found more and more pace as the race went on and the Spaniard had both in his sights.

Quartararo then made a mistake at the final corner of the race. The Frenchman ran wide, gifting Aldeguer fourth – by far the best result of his nascent MotoGP career.

Quartararo thus had to settle for fifth, ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), who had a bad start and opening lap, and had to fight his way back from well down the order.

He was helped along in that quest by several riders struggling after choosing the soft rear tyre. These included Maverick Vinales (Tech 3 KTM), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Pedro Acosta (KTM), each of whom fell gradually down the order, which in turn ensured plenty of overtaking action in the midfield.

Ai Ogura was another beneficiary, finishing seventh for Trackhouse Aprilia, albeit five seconds shy of Di Giannantonio at the end.

Bagnaia made no substantial progress after starting 11th, and only really moved forward as a result of the aforementioned soft-tyre strugglers.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin, returning to action at this race after missing the first three due to injury, ran as high as 11th, a spot he reached by passing his 2024 title rival Bagnaia. But his fitness woes began to count against him as the race continued, and he finished 16th.

Martin will face a tougher challenge in tomorrow’s Qatar GP, which will be double the length. Another rider with a health question mark ahead of Sunday is Joan Mir, after the Honda man pulled out of the sprint due to illness.

MotoGP Qatar GP - Sprint race results

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	11	-				12
2	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	11	+1.577 1.577	1.577			9
3	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	11	+3.988 3.988	2.411			7
4	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54	Ducati	11	+4.369 4.369	0.381			6
5	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	11	+4.593 4.593	0.224			5
6	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	11	+5.099 5.099	0.506			4
7	A. Ogura Trackhouse Racing Team	79	Aprilia	11	+10.199 10.199	5.100			3
8	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	11	+10.334 10.334	0.135			2
9	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	11	+11.300 11.300	0.966			1
10	M. Viñales Tech 3	12	KTM	11	+12.554 12.554	1.254
11	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	11	+13.676 13.676	1.122
12	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	11	+14.273 14.273	0.597
13	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	11	+14.408 14.408	0.135
14	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	11	+15.459 15.459	1.051
15	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	11	+15.587 15.587	0.128
16	J. Martin Aprilia Racing Team	1	Aprilia	11	+15.775 15.775	0.188
17	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	11	+16.317 16.317	0.542
18	A. Fernandez Pramac Racing	7	Yamaha	11	+17.922 17.922	1.605
19	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	11	+20.274 20.274	2.352
20	S. Chantra Team LCR	35	Honda	11	+31.106 31.106	10.832
dnf	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	8	3 laps			Retirement
View full results