Marco Bezzecchi kept his slim hopes of the 2026 world title alive by sealing a dominant victory at the MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar.
Bezzecchi responded to his contentious clash with rival Marc Marquez by leading every single lap of the race and winning by just over three seconds from the Ducati rider.
Bezzecchi and Marquez both made good starts, with the Italian rider holding onto the lead at the first corner before chaos behind saw an aggressive Raul Fernandez emerge in second.
Fernandez bumped past Fabio Di Giannantonio, who dropped from third to ninth and then duelled with Jorge Martin who had gained two places on the start.
Bezzecchi and Fernandez immediately showcased the strong Aprilia pace and were able to pull a three second gap to the riders behind.
Pedro Acosta also had a lightning start with aggression, pulling a double overtake on Ai Ogura and Johann Zarco to get into fourth, before closing in and passing Marquez for third.
However, much like Indonesia, Acosta appeared to get a tyre pressure warning on Lap 6 and let the break off to allow Marquez back into third place, with the trading of positions bringing Enea Bastianini into contention.
Despite Acosta having the pace early on, Marquez was able to pull away from Acosta who eventually faded as the Ducati rider sliced into the gap built by Fernandez in second.
Marquez passed Fernandez on the main straight with four laps remaining, moving past the Trackhouse rider as if he wasn’t there to take second, although he was far too far back to launch an attack on Bezzecchi.
Bezzecchi dominated the race, eventually winning by a margin of 3.083s which saw his slim hopes of the title continue by just a single point.
Marquez took second after his late overtake, while Fernandez did manage to hold onto the podium in third despite team-mate Ai Ogura closing in at a rapid rate at the end.
Ogura was fourth ahead of Bastianini, as Acosta dropped to sixth after his tyre struggles.
Martin was seven seconds back and remained well in contention for the title after picking up nine points for his seventh-placed finish.
Di Giannantonio was eighth following early contact, with Johann Zarco ninth and Iker Lecuona completing the top 10.
Franco Morbidelli won out in a battle for 11th, getting in front of Fermin Aldeguer at the line.
Maverick Vinales took the chequered flag in 13th, as Jake Dixon rounded out the finishers in 14th, as all riders scored points.
Diogo Moreira and Brad Binder both retired from the race due to technical issues and were the non-finishers of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Luca Marini withdrew from the grand prix due to fatigue-like symptoms, which saw just 16 riders make up the grid following Francesco Bagnaia’s crash in the sprint.
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