18:08
The top three are 0.6s clear of Quartararo, who will have to fight hard to keep fourth.
Pedro Acosta, KTM Factory Racing, 2025 Qatar MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
2025 Qatar MotoGP: Sprint - LIVE!
Live text coverage of the 2025 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix sprint
Saturday at the 2025 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix will see qualifying and sprint action for the fourth round of the season.
The championship has been reset coming into Saturday at the Qatar Grand Prix, with Alex Marquez taking over the lead of the standings at the previous Americas GP by a single point.
Marc Marquez's crash out of the lead of the grand prix at COTA has wiped out his championship advantage in what has so far been a dominant campaign for the factory Ducati rider.
After a tense qualifying session, Marc Marquez snatched pole to maintain his 100% qualifying record in 2025 with a new lap record.
Alex Marquez will start second, while Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo got his first front in a qualifying session since the 2022 Dutch GP.
Pecco Bagnaia crashed late on in Q2, leaving himself down in 11th on the grid on a weekend where practice form suggested his race pace was a little bit better than Marc Marquez's.
Reigning world champion Jorge Martin was an impressive 14th in his first qualifying of the year, the Aprilia rider digging deep to shadow his team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.
The sprint at 6pm BST.
12 Apr 2025
18:09
Lap 4/11
Marc Marquez leads still from Alex Marquez and Morbidelli. Gaps stay about the same. Quartararo still fourth from Vinales, Zarco, Aldeguer, Acosta, DiGia.
Bagnaia is back ahead of Martin but he's out of the points in 11th.
18:08
Bagnaia has just been passed by Ogura and Jorge Martin! He's down to 12th. What the hell is going on with the double world champion?
18:07
Lap 3/11
Onto lap three, Morbidelli fastest rider on track. Marc Marquez holds the lead from Alex Marquez.
18:06
Bagnaia is getting beaten up on lap two, he's just been re-passed by DiGia and Acosta and is down to 10th
18:06
Alex Marquez knows he has to rough Marc Marquez up. Watch for him through the right-handers - that's where he is strongest!
18:05
Lap 2/11
Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez trade spots into Turn 1, with Marc Marquez holding firm. Morbidelli has taken third from Quartararo.
18:05
Bagnaia gets DiGia into the last corner for eighth to end lap one.
18:04
Spicy fight for fifth going on, while Martin has jumped team-mate Bezzecchi to 12th.
18:04
Bagnaia hasn't made much progress from 11th. He's ninth. Vianles up to fifth, Morbidelli fourth, Di Giannantonio down to eighth.
18:03
Race start - lap 1/11
Marc Marquez gets off the line first and takes the lead into Turn 1, while Alex Marquez fends off Quartararo.
18:01
This will be reigning world champion Jorge Martin's first race start on the Aprilia and his first since last November's Solidarity GP, when he won the title.
He goes from 14th on the grid.
18:00
Warm-up lap
The warm-up lap is underway.
17:57
Tyre update
Latest information from MIchelin is this:
All on medium front tyre.
Marini, Zarco, Chantra, Binder, Acosta, Vinales, Bastianini, Rins and Miller are on the soft rear. Everyone else is on the medium.
17:54
Tyre update
Di Giannantonio has switched to the medium rear, as has Bagnaia.
17:53
Marc Marquez called his pole a "surprise", so you get the feeling he's still very much looking over his shoulder at younger brother Alex Marquez in this sprint.
17:50
Ten minutes to go until lights out.
17:48
Tyre choice
There is a bit of a mix of rear tyres on the way to the grid.
DiGia, Vinales, Zarco, Rins, Bagnaia, Acosta, Marini, Miller, Binder, Bastianini and Chantra have gone to the grid on the soft rear tyre.
The rest are on the medium rear. Everyone is so far on the medium front.
17:45
Pitlane has opened for the riders to head to the grid.
17:45
Reminder that ahead of this 11-lap sprint, Alex Marquez leads the championship by one point from Marc Marquez, while Pecco Bagnaia is 12 points back.
Hopes that Bagnaia could close that gap have taken a knock with him starting 11th after a crash in Q2.
17:44
Starting grid
Row 1 - M.Marquez, A.Marquez, Quartararo
Row 2 - Morbidelli, Di Giannantonio, Vinales
Row 3 - Zarco, Aldeguer, Rins
Row 4 - Ogura, Bagnaia, Acosta
Row 5 - Bezzecchi, Martin, Marini
Row 6 - Miller, R.Fernandez, Binder
Row 7 - A.Fernandez, Bastianini, Chantra
17:42
Rider withdrawal
Honda's Joan Mir has pulled out of the sprint due to illness. He was due to start 21st.
17:42
Sprint build-up
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Qatar GP sprint.
Just 20 minutes till lights out.
15:25
Story - KTM responds to Pedro Acosta rumours
The future of Pedro Acosta's MotoGP career remains a hot topic in Qatar, with rumours of him leaving KTM in 2026 refusing to go away.
But KTM motorsport boss Pit Bierer has responded to these, noting that his rider is under contract with the brand through 2026.
Read the full story here
14:40
We're going to take a breather, but do please join us again from 6pm for live coverage of the sprint.
