The #93 beats the #73 in Doha to reclaim the Championship lead ahead of Grand Prix Sunday as the bronze medal battle heats up.
The scintillating 2025 Saturday streak continues for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 completed a pole position and Tissot Sprint double at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar to wrestle back the Championship lead from second place finisher Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The bronze medal went the way of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as fellow Italian Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) evening ended with a disappointing P8 in Doha.
THE START: MARQUEZ VS MARQUEZ, BAGNAIA STRUGGLES
The top three on the grid all launched off the line very well but it was polesitter Marc Marquez who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer exchanged P4 at Turn 4, before the rookie got a little bit beaten up as Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) forced their way through.
Meanwhile, at the end of the first lap, Bagnaia’s progress was P11 to P8. Not bad, but the Italian needed more. At the front, Alex got the better of Marc at Turn 1 on Lap 2, but the red corner bit straight back. And what were we saying about Pecco needing more? That’s exactly the opposite of what happened on Lap 2.
First Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), then Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and then 2023 and 2024 title rival, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), were ahead of Bagnaia. What was going on with the #63?
MARC PULLS CLEAR AS PODIUM FIGHT HOTS UP
At the front, Marc continued to lead Alex, with the gap between the two hovering around the 0.3s mark. Morbidelli was third, 0.7s further back, with Quartararo 0.3s away from his former teammate in P4. Viñales was well in touch in P5, as a mistake from Zarco cost the Frenchman a place to Aldeguer on Lap 4 of 11.
A fastest lap of the race was then set by Marc Marquez, seeing his lead stretch to 0.5s, but Alex Marquez responded with his personal best lap on the next lap to maintain that half a second. Elsewhere, Aldeguer was flying. The Gresini rider quickly reeled in Viñales and made a move stick with five laps left, with Bagnaia still outside of the points in P11. That was then P10 as Zarco lost more ground after running wide at the final corner, with Bagnaia now facing the tailpipes of Acosta and Ogura.
Three laps to go. Marc Marquez was now 1.2s up the road and looked set to keep his 100% Sprint record, while Morbidelli was keeping Quartararo half a second behind him. Bagnaia passed Acosta at Turn 4 to climb into P9 – in other words, a point-scoring position.
Last lap time! The victory fight seemed over, but the podium battle certainly wasn’t. Morbidelli’s margin had disappeared as Quartararo and Aldeguer swarmed. Could they do anything to pinch a podium from the Italian? Not quite. A small error at the final corner saw Quartararo hand Aldeguer a free pass into P4, but for the fourth Grand Prix in a row, Marc Marquez doubled up on a Saturday. Alex Marquez’s P2 run continued and Morbidelli did just about hold onto a bronze medal.
THE POINTS SCORERS
Aldeguer’s mid to late Sprint pace was nothing short of sensational as the rookie bagged a very impressive P4, with Quartararo backing up his front row with a hard-earned P5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was 0.5s adrift of the Yamaha star in P6, Ogura was the lead Aprilia in P7, with Bagnaia having to settle for a low-key P8. Work to do for Bagnaia ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) earned the final point in P9 as Viñales’ soft tyre gamble failed to pay off in the second half of the Sprint – the KTM rider slipped from P5 to P10. And speaking of Aprilia, in his first Sprint appearance since the 2024 Solidarity GP, World Champion Martin crossed the line in P16 to get crucial mileage under his belt after his injury layoff. How good was it to see the #1 back in the battle?
So once more, Saturday belongs to Marc Marquez. Can anyone find a way of beating the six-time MotoGP World Champion on Sunday evening? We’ll find out at 20:00 local time (UTC +3).
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