2025 Qatar MotoGP: Marc Marquez wins sprint as Pecco Bagnaia struggles
Marc Marquez retakes MotoGP points lead with Qatar GP sprint win
Marc Marquez has retaken the lead in the 2025 MotoGP standings after dominating the Qatar Grand Prix sprint, as Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia struggled to eighth.
Marc Marquez felt like his pole lap in qualifying earlier on Saturday was a “surprise” as he expected Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia to be faster than him this weekend.
But, aside from a brief swapping of places with Gresini’s Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez was in total control of the 11-lap sprint at Lusail.
He took the chequered flag over 1.5s clear of Alex Marquez to retake the championship lead by two points, while Franco Morbidelli completed the podium for VR46 Ducati.
Having come into Saturday looking strong, Bagnaia’s charge has come right off the rails, with a crash in Q2 leaving him 11th on the grid.
And from there, Bagnaia had no pace on his factory Ducati in the sprint, with the double world champion only able to get to eighth at the chequered flag - 10.334s off the win.
Bagnaia has now slid 21 points behind Marc Marquez in the championship going into Sunday’s 22-lap grand prix.
From pole, Marc Marquez grabbed the holeshot from Alex Marquez and third-place starter Fabio Quartararo on the factory Yamaha.
Bagnaia behind made small progress to ninth on the opening lap, but quickly found himself dumped out of the points and was even passed by returning reigning champion Jorge Martin at one point.
Alex Marquez launched a raid on the lead on the run into Turn 1 at the start of lap two, throwing his Gresini Ducati up the inside of Marc Marquez - though ultimately having to concede the place immediately.
That proved to be the only time Marc Marquez didn’t lead the sprint, with the factory Ducati rider beginning to stretch away on the fifth tour.
By the start of lap six, the lead had stretched to around 0.7s, with Marc Marquez eventually getting his lead up to over 1.5s through to the chequered flag.
Alex Marquez was comfortably second to maintain his 100% runner-up spot record in 2025, while VR46’s Morbidelli took the last podium place.
Morbidelli moved ahead of Quartararo for third at the start of lap two, though the Yamaha rider rallied late on and put his former team-mate under pressure.
The pair also had Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer to contend with on the final lap.
Morbidelli held third on the way into the last corner, while a mistake on the brakes for Quartararo forced him out wide and dropped him to fifth behind Aldeguer.
Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top six on the sister VR46 Ducati, while Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura fought through to seventh on his Aprilia.
Bagnaia recovered to a distant eighth, while Marco Bezzecchi took the final point in ninth for the factory Aprilia team.
This came at the expense of KTM pair Maverick Vinales and Pedro Acosta, whose soft tyre choice saw them fade right out of the points come the chequered flag.
Jorge Martin ran just outside of the top 10 in the early stages of his first race start since last November, but ultimately dropped to 16th on the sister factory Aprilia.
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco was the only retirement, as he pulled out on lap nine with rear tyre problems.
Factory Honda rider Joan Mir didn’t take the start due to illness. His physical condition will be assessed on Sunday before a decision is made on his participation in the grand prix.
