Márquez wins stage in Qatar and can be champion on Sunday

O spanish Marc Márquez (Ducati) won today the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix, 20th round of the MotoGP World Championship, and can win on Sunday the 10th world career title.

The Catalan pilot completed the 10 laps in 18.46,450 minutes, beating the Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) for 0.862 seconds and the Spanish Jorge Martín (Aprilia), third, for 1,519 seconds.

Márquez now needs to earn another 25 points to Martín to solve the championship in this round, which forces him to win the main race and hope that the opponent does not score, ending below the 15th place or abandoning.

Martín, who failed the previous round in Malaysia, gave a demonstration of resistance on his return to the competition, just 14 days after he fractured his right wrist. He left 11th position, but by the second round he was fourth and came through the lead.

The madrilene lost second place to Di Giannantonio in the final lap, but the seven points won limited to five the loss to Márquez and kept the championship discussion open.

The race was marked by the stately fall of Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), hit by the Spanish motorcycle Fermín Aldeguer (Ducati) in the last turn of the first round, in an accident that forced the interruption with red flag.

The two world champions of 2022 and 2023 were assisted on site and transported with a stretcher, already conscious, to the medical center of the circuit, not participating in the resumption.

Aldeguer was penalized with two long laps for having provoked the collision and finished at 11. The new race was played in 10 laps, less one than the initially predicted distance.

The Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), who had won pole position, also fell after a touch with Marc Márquez and was left unscored after completing three laps.

“ That ringtone opened the airbag in my suit. Apart from that, it was a perfect race”, commented Marc Márquez, in the end.

On the other hand, mader Jorge Martin promises to take the title decision to Portimão.

“The recovery was incredible. I did a great job at home, which allowed me to be here. I was able to manage the effort, and I got very fresh to sprint. Of course tomorrow will be a little worse. It will be hard, but I will endure ", stressed.

Behind the first three, the Spanish Raúl Fernández (Aprilia) was fourth, followed by the French Johann Zarco (Honda) and the Spanish Pedro Acosta (KTM), while the Japanese Ai Ogura (Aprilia), the Italian Enea Bastianini (KTM) and the Spanish Iker Lecuona (Ducati) completed the points.

If he wins the championship, Márquez will reach eight titles in the main category, equalizing the Italian record Giacomo Agostini and surpassing the seven of Valentino Rossi. Counting the 125cc and Moto2 championships, it will be your 10th world scepter.

Márquez adds 411 points, against 362 from Martín, according to 49, while Bezzecchi holds 332, to 79 from the leader. If you do not secure the title in Qatar, Spanish will be able to do so in the next round in two weeks at the Algarve International Race Course in Portugal.

The main Qatar Grand Prix race is held this Sunday.