The 2026 MotoGP World Championship fight will go down to the penultimate race in two weeks’ time after Marco Bezzecchi scored a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Marc Marquez, while rival Jorge Martin scored a heroic seventh place.
After Bezzecchi escaped early on, there was an entertaining fight for second place where Marquez caught and passed Raul Fernandez. Ai Ogura made it three Aprilias in the top four in fourth place.
Issues limit Pedro Acosta to sixth
Pedro Acosta was left disappointed with his Sunday race after a string of issues slowed his podium charge.
The 22-year old had a brilliant start and first lap and was soon past Marc Marquez to sit third on lap three.
But Acosta started to suffer from issues with his front tyre pressure. He let Marquez back past on lap six.
Unable to keep up with the Ducati rider, he then dropped behind Ogura and Enea Bastianini to finish a frustrating sixth.
It was a tricky day on the other side of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing box as Brad Binder retired with a technical issue.
Bezzecchi cruises to sixth MotoGP win of 2026
Marco Bezzecchi made up for his Saturday disappointment by sweeping to a convincing lights-to-flag victory on Sunday.
The Italian was devastated to fall out of victory contention on Saturday evening, when he clashed with rival Marc Marquez in a controversial incident at Turn 1.
But the 27-year old was flawless under the Qatar floodlights as he eased clear of Raul Fernandez in the early victory fight to win his sixth MotoGP Grand Prix of the season by 3s.
This result means Bezzecchi still has a small chance of lifting the 2026 MotoGP Championship trophy as he sits 74 back of Marquez in the title fight with 74 still in play.
Marquez second, MotoGP title fight carries on
Sunday was Marc Marquez’s first match point of 2026. The permutations were simple: the Catalan could win the title today if he was victorious in the race and Jorge Martin failed to score points.
It soon became clear that wouldn’t be possible. Not only did Bezzecchi and Fernandez race clear of the current championship leader early on; Martin had another excellent start to sit ninth.
After initially dropping behind Acosta, Marquez started gaining ground mid-race. He soon left the KTM rider behind and caught and passed Fernandez in second. This was his eighth Grand Prix podium of the year.
After scoring a heroic Sprint podium on Saturday 14 days on from breaking a bone in his right wrist, Martin performed miraclse again. The Aprilia rider took nine crucial points for seventh place after completing 22 laps.
The result leaves Marquez with a 60-point advantage over Martin in the championship standings.
Marquez will now have another opportunity to secure his tenth World Championship title, and eighth in the premier class, during the Sprint race at the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit on 21 November.
