Marc Marquez claimed his first Sprint victory of the season in the inaugural Brazilian MotoGP Sprint race.
The reigning MotoGP champion overturned a 1.4s deficit to pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio to win the 15-lap race.
Aprilia’s Jorge Martin rounded out the podium behind the two Ducati riders, taking his first sprint podium for the Noale factory.
Before the race got underway, an hour and 20-minute delay halted proceedings after a sinkhole emerged on the track.
The hole was discovered following MotoGP qualifying, prompting emergency repairs to a large section of asphalt.
It was concluded that the sinkhole was caused by heavy rainfall over the previous few days, which impacted the start/finish straight.
When riders finally took to the track, MotoGP was underway in Brazil for the first time in 22 years.
Pole sitter Di Giannantonio took the holeshot into Turn 1, closely followed by Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.
The 2021 champion caught Marquez napping in Turn 2 to take second, allowing the VR46 Ducati to formulate a 0.5s lead after Lap 1.
Marquez regained second place after passing the Yamaha into Turn 1 on Lap 3, before Marco Bezzecchi capitalised on Quartararo running wide at Turn 3 to take third.
The Frenchman tumbled down further as Martin claimed fourth spot, but he managed to keep Ai Ogura at bay throughout the fourth instalment.
Bezzecchi and Martin exchanged places after a minor error from the former, allowing Martin to move into third place.
Honda’s woes were highlighted in this short race after Joan Mir and Johann Zarco’s races ended in the gravel trap.
Lap by lap, Marquez reduced the gap to 0.4s behind Di Giannantonio, putting the Roman rider under pressure in the final five laps.
Marquez capitalised on a Di Giannantonio wobble with three laps to go, a move that proved enough to secure the race win.
Martin held on to third place to secure his first-ever Sprint podium for Aprilia, finishing ahead of team-mate Bezzecchi by half a second.
Ogura eventually overtook Quartararo to claim fifth place for Trackhouse, though the Yamaha rider managed to halt Alex Marquez overtaking him.
Francesco Bagnaia finished the Sprint in eighth place, followed by KTM’s Pedro Acosta and hometown hero Diogo Moreira.
Factory Honda rider Luca Marini posted 11th place after a tough qualifying, followed by the second Trackhouse rider of Raul Fernandez.
Alex Rins claimed 13th on the factory Yamaha, finishing marginally quicker than Fermin Aldeguer and Brad Binder.
After Di Giannantonio’s second, his team-mate Franco Morbidelli finished down in 16th, finishing ahead of Enea Bastianini and the Pramac Yamaha duo of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jack Miller.
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