MotoGP: Marquez and Michelin master Qatar
Marquez produced another display of his current form under the Lusail floodlights where, aided by the outstanding grip and consistency of his Michelin tires at one of the season's most demanding tracks, he won everything that was up for grabs.
He started by qualifying on pole with a time (1m50.499s) that bettered the previous record (Jorge Martin, 2024) by three-tenths of a second. He followed up with his fourth sprint victory of the year after dominating Saturday's contest from lights-out to the finish line.
He then claimed Sunday's grand prix which saw three different riders take turns in front, the other two being Morbidelli and Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Marquez took control on the sixteenth of the afternoon's 22 laps before benefiting from the consistency of his medium MICHELIN Power slicks to clock the afternoon's best time on Lap 19. He went on to claim his 65th MotoGPTM success after completing the distance 14.5 seconds quicker than the former benchmark of 2023.
Bagnaia fought his way from 11th on the grid to claim second place after Viñales was handed a 16-second post-finish penalty, dropping him to 14th spot. The Spaniard's woes promoted Morbidelli to third, while Johann Zarco rounded out the day's top four for LCR Honda.
Michelin's MotoGPTM range performed strongly at Losail, a notoriously abrasive venue due to sand blown onto by the wind and known, too, for the high humidity levels reached after sunset. The French firm's slicks contributed to new track- and race-lap records, as well as a new shortest race-duration reference. All the riders chose the medium compound front and rear for Sunday's grand prix after the majority had opted for the same combination for Saturday's sprint.
Marquez (123 points) has recovered first place in the provisional championship standings and sits 17 and 26 points clear respectively of his brother Alex (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) – who was seventh in Qatar – and Bagnaia.
Next round: Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España, Jerez, Spain (April 25-27).