Losail (Qatar) (AFP) – Spaniard Marc Márquez (Ducati) won the sprint race of the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix this Saturday at the Lusail circuit and will have his first opportunity to win his eighth title in the premier category of motorcycling on Sunday.

First modification: 07/11/2026 - 18:52

The Catalan won ahead of the Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-VR46) and the Spanish Jorge Martín (Aprilia), who competes despite a fracture of the radius of his right arm at the wrist.

The Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), who had achieved pole position, fell when he was overtaking Márquez on the fourth lap.

Despite contact between the two bikes, the seven-time world champion, who started in second position, managed to stay on his feet before heading towards victory.

The race was marked by the spectacular fall of the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who was hit by the Spanish Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati-Gresini) and fell violently onto the asphalt after being thrown over the handlebars.

This incident, which occurred in the last corner of the first lap, caused the sprint to be interrupted and a second start was given. Márquez, second at the time of the red flag, then started much better and took the lead.

"It has been a strange race with this red flag. I hope Pecco (Bagnaia) is fine. My airbag went off on impact (with Bezzecchi) and that destabilized me a little. But apart from that, everything went very well for me. These points added are very important," stressed the Catalan.

Márquez, who now has a 49-point advantage over Martín in the championship, will have his first opportunity on Sunday to win an eighth crown in the premier category and equal the Italian legend Giacomo Agostini.

For this, the only possible scenario would be a victory combined with the fact that Martín does not score any points, either due to a fall or for finishing beyond 15th place.

© 2026 AFP

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