Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) secured a stunning double victory in Doha, winning both the Tissot Sprint and the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar despite a frantic battle with Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3). In a dramatic twist, Viñales’ post-race tyre pressure penalty saw him demoted from second to 14th, promoting Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to second and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) to third.
The race began with a chaotic opening lap, as Marc Marquez and his brother Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) made contact exiting Turn 1, causing a piece of bodywork to fly off the rear of Marc’s bike. Morbidelli capitalized on the situation to take the lead into Turn 2, while Viñales and Alex Marquez battled for third.
As the race progressed, Bagnaia made his way up to sixth before more drama unfolded. Alex Marquez, attempting to pass Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) at Turn 12, misjudged the move, forcing both riders wide. Marquez dropped to seventh, while Di Giannantonio fell back to 21st. For his part in the incident, Alex Marquez received a Long Lap penalty.
Bagnaia continued his charge, passing Marc Marquez for second on Lap 5. However, the Championship leader fought back two laps later, retaking the position. Viñales, setting the fastest lap of the race, moved into third and soon found himself leading the race after overtaking both Marquez and Morbidelli.
With seven laps remaining, Marc Marquez seized an opportunity when Viñales ran slightly wide at Turn 6, retaking the lead. From there, the six-time MotoGP World Champion pulled the pin, setting multiple fastest laps to extend his advantage. Despite Viñales’ best efforts, Marquez crossed the line 1.5 seconds clear to claim his first victory in Doha since 2014 and strengthen his grip on the Championship lead.
Reflecting on the race, Marquez said, “The coming together at turn one with Alex was more my fault than his, but despite the missing wing I felt no behaviour change on the bike. I managed the race as I wanted: I saw that Morbidelli was trying to pull away, but I wasn’t worried, as the priority for me was to manage the front-tyre wear. I knew that by riding this way, Pecco would have come closer, and it happened. When he overtook me, my real race started and I pushed a bit more in order to make the difference in the last ten laps.”
Bagnaia, who started 11th on the grid, fought his way through the field to finish third on track, a result he was satisfied with given the circumstances. “All in all, I’m happy with today’s result, as you never know what can happen when you start from eleventh place on the grid,” he said. “The only thing that upsets me a bit is that on Sunday I’m always a bit more competitive and effective, especially in the early laps, and I manage to complete some overtakes. On Saturday, on the other hand, I always struggle in doing the same, so I need to understand what to do in order to improve and make a step forward. That said, I’m happy with the outcome.”
Following Viñales’ penalty, Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) claimed fourth, his best result since joining Honda, ahead of rookie Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) in fifth. Alex Marquez recovered to sixth, ending his run of second-place finishes and podiums.
In a disappointing turn of events, reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) crashed out of the race and was taken to the medical centre for a check-up. An update from Aprilia revealed that Martin “suffered a chest trauma, the rider is conscious without problems with his limbs. Rib contusion on the right thorax with pneumothorax. He will be taken to the hospital to perform a CT for in-depth investigation.”
The MotoGP paddock now heads to Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix, where Marc Marquez will look to extend his Championship lead in front of his home crowd. With seven wins from eight races, the question remains: can anyone stop the #93’s momentum?
