MotoGP, the numbers of the Sprints that are changing Marquez’s World Championship

The MotoGP World Championship enters its decisive phase with Marc Marquez ever closer to the title, and Saturday continues to weigh heavily in the calculations. After the Qatar Sprint, the Spaniard won and moved up to 411 points, with Jorge Martin on 362 and Marco Bezzecchi on 332. In Portimao, after the Sprint, there will be 62 points still up for grabs: the Portugal weekend can still settle the matter, but the margin built up in the short races has already shaped the standings.

The numbers clearly explain why. In the first 20 weekends, Marquez has collected 164 points in the Sprints, averaging 8.2 per race; excluding the Barcelona Sprint, the figure rises to an average of 8.5. In the 18 long races contested, excluding Le Mans and Barcelona, the tally is 267 points, equal to 14.8 per GP. Saturday is worth 12 points, Sunday 25, and yet the haul built in the Sprints still exceeds 60% of that amassed in the Sunday races.

The duel with Martin

The comparison with Martin makes the picture even clearer. In the Sprints, Marquez has taken 45 more points than his Aprilia rival, who has still scored four victories in the Saturday format. If the short races were removed from the calculation, the gap between the two would drop to 15 points. It is the figure that best shows how much Saturday has widened Marquez’s margin in a championship that, without those races, would have remained much more open.

The picture is more complicated for Bezzecchi. The Italian finished the Sprints with 80 points and seven podiums, but the gap to the leader remains heavy. After the Qatar GP, the Aprilia rider told Moto.it: «I would sign up to improve them, more than to eliminate them».

The picture of Losail

The Qatar Sprint also shifted the other standings. Among the teams, Aprilia leads with 694 points against the 584 of Ducati's factory team; among the constructors, Ducati is ahead on 549 points, with Aprilia on 536 and KTM third on 352. Saturday at Losail was not just about a Marquez victory: it confirmed that in 2026 the World Championship is also fought out in the short races, and that their weight can already be seen in the shape of the standings as well as in the weekend score.