2025 Qatar MotoGP: Marc Marquez wins thriller despite collision with Alex Marquez
Marc Marquez completed a perfect weekend at the Qatar GP
Marc Marquez won a thrilling MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix despite a lap one collision with Alex Marquez leaving his factory Ducati damaged.
Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez came into the Qatar weekend expecting to be under threat to Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, having previously only won once at Lusail in his MotoGP career.
But the factory Ducati rider completed his third hat-trick of the season, as he stormed to pole, took victory in the sprint and won the 22-lap grand prix on Sunday.
Marc Marquez had to fight hard for his third grand prix win of 2025, however, as Turn 1 contact with Alex Marquez left his Ducati with damage to the rear aero.
Having taken the holeshot from pole, the contact between the two Marquez brothers allowed Franco Morbidelli on the VR46 Ducati to take the lead.
Marc Marquez would find himself at one stage behind Morbidelli and Ducati team-mate Bagnaia, while also ceding a place to Tech3 KTM’s Maverick Vinales.
But, having been managing his tyres the whole time, Marquez eventually came through to retake the lead and take the chequered flag 1.8s clear of the field.
Provisionally, that was ahead of Vinales, who initially scored a first podium as a KTM rider and the first for the brand in 2025.
However he was given a 16-second time penalty post-race for a tyre pressure infringement and drops to 14th.
Bagnaia completed the top three having come from 11th on the grid.
Marc Marquez grabbed first on the run into Turn 1 at the start of the 22-lap race ahead of Alex Marquez, though the latter made contact with him as the lines closer at the first corner.
Morbidelli nipped through into the lead on the outside of the pair, with the VR46 rider leading for the opening 10 laps and moving over a second clear at one stage.
By lap two, Bagnaia had moved up to sixth and was quickly moving towards the podium places.
At the start of lap four, Bagnaia found himself in third and would pass team-mate Marc Marquez for second into Turn 1 on the fifth tour.
Marquez quickly retaliated at the same place on lap seven, though the pair soon had problems coming from Vinales on the KTM.
Vinales snatched third from Bagnaia at the last corner on lap seven and overhauled Marquez at the start of lap 10, before taking the lead from Morbidelli on the next tour.
Leading the race until lap 16, Vinales made a mistake at Turn 6 while trying to resist Marquez’s resurgent pace and allowed the Ducati rider back in front.
From here, Marquez pulled the pin and got to the chequered flag 1.8s clear of Vinales to open up a championship lead of 17 points over Alex Marquez.
Bagnaia in the latter stages looked like he would take second from Vinales, but faded 2.775s adrift at the chequered flag. He is now 26 points off the championship lead.
Morbidelli defended fourth (which became third after Vinales' penalty) from a hard-charging Johann Zarco on the LCR Honda, while Fermin Aldeguer was sixth on the first of the Gresini Ducatis.
Team-mate Alex Marquez was involved in a collision with VR46 Ducati’s Fabio Di Giannantonio on lap three at Turn 12 as the former was trying to retake third place having lost it the corner before.
Alex Marquez was given a long lap penalty for this, which dropped him to 12th. He rallied to seventh at the chequered flag, but his 100% podium streak in 2025 has been snapped.
Fabio Quartararo dropped off the front row to eighth on his factory Yamaha, while KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi completed the top 10.
Luca Marini was 11th for Honda, while Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, Yamaha’s Alex Rins, KTM’s Brad Binder and Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura took the final points.
Di Giannantonio was 16th after his collision with Alex Marquez.
Reigning world champion Jorge Martin crashed heavily on lap 14 and was taken to the medical centre for checks. Crashes ruled Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez out, while Joan Mir pulled out of the race.
