The championship chase rolls on to the Portuguese Grand Prix. Under the lights in Lusail, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) bounced back from Saturday's low to rise highest on Sunday, keeping himself in the title race frame. That's the Italian's 12th MotoGP win and his most important to date, but it's second-place finisher Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) who takes another step towards retaining his crown after collecting 20 points at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar.
Third went the way of Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who returns to action in classy fashion while still nursing two broken fingers. That's the #25's sixth Sunday rostrum of the campaign, and speaking of injured heroes, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) comes across the line in P7 just two weeks after breaking his wrist to remain in the championship hunt. Superhuman.
THE START: BEZ GETS THE LAUNCH, FERNANDEZ PASSES MARQUEZ
The potential title-decider got underway with polesitter Bezzecchi closing the door and keeping the lead going into Turn 1 ahead of Marc Marquez, before Fernandez dived past the World Championship leader to demote the #93 to P3.
Martin got a decent start – the #89 was briefly up to P8 from P11 on the grid before a slow-starting Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) barged his way through on the rider second in the title race at Turn 12 on the opening lap.
APRILIA DUO OPEN A GAP, ACOSTA ATTACKS
By Lap 3, Bezzecchi and Fernandez were over 1.5s up the road from Marc Marquez, who had 2027 teammate Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) climbing all over the rear wheel of the Ducati. Until he wasn’t. Acosta passed Marquez at Turn 15 on Lap 3 to jump into the final podium spot, and a little earlier in the lap, Martin climbed up to P8 after a good move was made on Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR).
On the sixth lap, Acosta looked like he allowed Marquez to come back through at Turn 2. The obvious answer was Acosta receiving tyre pressure warnings on his dashboard, as the #37 slotted in behind the seven-time MotoGP World Champion. It promoted Marquez back up to P3, three seconds away from second-place Fernandez, with Martin still lapping in P8.
At the halfway stage of the Grand Prix, Bezzecchi led Fernandez by 1.2s, with Marquez and Acosta still locked together, 3.9s off the lead. Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) were squabbling away in P5 and P6, just over a second away from the Ducati and KTM stars, with Martin climbing to P7 on Lap 11 as Di Giannantonio struggled with pace.
MARQUEZ MAKES P2 BID
On Lap 14, Marc Marquez began to turn up the wick. A fastest lap of the Grand Prix was slammed in, a 1:52.558, which was nearly eight tenths quicker than Bezzecchi, and nearly nine tenths faster than Fernandez. Acosta was now 1.2s away from Marquez and chasing the #37 was now Ogura after the Japanese rider barged through on Bastianini on Lap 15 of 22.
Bezzecchi and Fernandez stepped their pace back up over the next couple of laps to stabilise the gap to Marquez, but it did then dip below a second for the first time on Lap 17 between Fernandez and Marquez. Every point matters in the title chase, and with Martin digging deep and through the pain barrier in P7, it was vital for the #89 that Fernandez kept Marquez at bay.
But it was looking increasingly unlikely. With four laps to go, Marquez had a real sniff of P2. Then, in one of the easiest passes Marquez will have had in a long time, the championship leader grabbed P2 from Fernandez on the run out of the final corner to provisionally pocket an extra four crucial points.
One lap remaining then. Bezzecchi led onto it by 3.6s to keep his slim title hopes alive, with Marquez holding Fernandez behind him by 0.5s. Ogura was closing in on the podium fight, but it was too little too late for the Dutch GP winner.
Fair play to Bezzecchi. After a crushing Tissot Sprint crash on Saturday, the Italian led from start to finish to collect 25 points in Doha and make sure the championship chase rolls into Portimao in a couple of weeks. It was the #93 who collected 20 points to take another step towards an eighth MotoGP title, with the points lead sitting at 60 with 74 remaining.
Fernandez clung on, but it wasn’t quite enough for the rider still nursing two broken right fingers to clinch P2. Still, a podium with those injuries signals a top job done by the British GP winner.
YOUR POINT SCORERS IN QATAR
Ogura crossed the line just 1.2s away from his teammate in P4, with Bastianini fronting the KTM charge in P5 ahead of a frustrated Acosta who on more than one occasion looked like he was having tyre pressure issues. It was P6 at the flag for the #37.
Coming home in P7 was Martin. A Sprint podium and nine more points on Sunday is a superhero effort from the 2024 World Champion, just two weeks on from breaking his wrist in Australia. It’s valuable points lost in the title race of course, but scoring solid points this weekend is a win in itself for Martin. And, importantly, the #89 is still in title contention.
Di Giannantonio struggled unexpectedly to finish P8 from the front row, while Zarco and Iker Lecuona, Alex Marquez’s BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP stand-in, completed the top 10.
Four more finishers pocketed points in the form of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3), and Joan Mir’s stand-in, Jake Dixon (Honda HRC Castrol). The Briton scoring points for the first time in MotoGP in P14, with Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) forced to retire from the Grand Prix with problems.
UP NEXT: PORTIMAO
So we head to the Portuguese Grand Prix, with three riders still in contention for the 2026 title, but the Aprilias of Martin and Bezzecchi have several mountains to climb at the rollercoaster. 60 points in it between our two most recent World Champions in Marquez and Martin, with 74 the gap to Bezzecchi - with 74 left on the table. Let's strap in for the penultimate round, as Marquez and Ducati hunt a title victory next time out.
To put it simply, if Marquez wins the Sprint in Portimao, he'll be crowned 2026 World Champion. See you in Portugal!
