Marc Márquez won the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint at Lusail after a race-defining clash with his main title rival, Marco Bezzecchi. The Sprint had been stopped by a red flag following Pecco Bagnaia’s crash and resumed with a restart.

Bezzecchi started from pole after setting a new lap record and was leading before the interruption. Márquez moved ahead at the restart. At the beginning of lap four, he reached Turn 1 first but ran slightly wide. Bezzecchi went for the opening, only for the gap to close as both bikes converged at the apex. The Aprilia rider crashed, while Márquez’s airbag deployed and the Spaniard managed to retain the lead.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was behind Márquez before Jorge Martín passed him at Turn 2. Martín then made another attempt at Turn 6, but Márquez held position and went on to win. After the finish, Márquez said the airbag deployment had delayed the system’s return to normal operation. Once he had built gaps of 0.5 and then 0.8 seconds, he concentrated on managing the pace, describing the 12 points as especially valuable.

No penalty for the contact

The FIM MotoGP stewards reviewed the incident and decided that no further action was required. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola reacted negatively to the decision and was seen sarcastically clapping Márquez as the collision was replayed.

The crash left Bezzecchi 79 points behind Márquez. To keep his championship challenge alive, he needed to cut the gap to fewer than 74 points in Sunday’s race. Márquez, meanwhile, could clinch the title by winning if Jorge Martín failed to score.