MotoGP Qatar, Bezzecchi beats Marquez and postpones the title to Portimao

Marco Bezzecchi wins the Qatar Grand Prix and delays Marc Marquez's celebration once again. At Lusail the Aprilia rider, who had already claimed pole position, stays in front for the entire race and takes his sixth victory of the season. Marquez finishes second and his bid for a tenth title does not come in Qatar.

The race immediately goes Bezzecchi's way. Bezzecchi gets off to a good start and keeps the lead, while Marquez approaches his race cautiously in the early stages, even dropping to fourth before starting to climb back up. In the middle part, the Ducati rider from Spain takes advantage of the better pace and gets back onto the podium, but does not find the space to take the win.

Behind him, Raúl Fernández moves up to third at the finish ahead of Ai Ogura, Enea Bastianini and Pedro Acosta. Jorge Martin, who in the race has to deal with a fracture of the right radius, finishes seventh. The Lusail GP therefore brings heavy consequences in the standings both at the front and in the lower positions, with Bezzecchi claiming a dominant Sunday and Marquez having to postpone the final count.

World title postponed

The Qatar result leaves Marquez leading the World Championship with a 60-point margin over Martin and 74 over Bezzecchi. The verdict, however, does not arrive yet: the next chance is Portimao, where the Ducati rider from Spain could seal the deal already in the Sprint if he manages to extend his advantage further over the Aprilia rival.

For Bezzecchi, there is the confirmation of a top weekend after the retirement in Saturday's Sprint. At Lusail the rider from Romagna builds the victory without a blemish and keeps his place in the world title fight open, while Marquez leaves Qatar with a second place that is still worth a lot, but not enough to settle the matter.