MotoGP Qatar: Marc Marquez returns to victory. Bagnaia 2nd after penalty to Viñales

Marc Marquez returns to victory: the Spanish Ducati centaur triumphs in Qatar after 11 years and returns to the lead of the MotoGP championship standings at the end of a hard-fought race. Also finishing on the podium, at least for a few minutes, was a surprising Maverick Viñales on an Aprilia, before the 16″ penalty by the race officials that forced him to move up to 14th place. In second position is therefore Pecco Bagnaia, good at making a comeback from 11th place, while Franco Morbidelli officially goes to third place after a good race, conducted in the first part. Jorge Martin crashed, Alex Marquez sixth.

The first half of the race is characterized by Franco Morbidelli’s excellent performance: the VR46 centaur takes a great start and finds himself leading the race. Behind, a real tussle for second place broke out between Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales and Pecco Bagnaia, who quickly climbed up from’eleventh place.

The race was characterized by a great performance by Franco Morbidelli.

After half the race, Morbidelli dropped and was overtaken in’order by Viñales, Marquez and Bagnaia. The Aprilia rider struggles to resist the pressure of the Catalan and with 7 laps to go he goes wide, allowing the number 93 to tuck him in. It’s a fatal mistake for the’former Yamaha, and Marquez sprints to victory. Bagnaia takes third place, which will become second after the penalty for the KTM Tech3 rider.

Returning world champion Jorge Martin fell with nine laps to go (immediately to the medical center for a back injury), while there will be no shortage of controversy over Alex Marquez’s collision with Fabio Di Giannantonio, out of the points.

Order of finish (top 10)
.
Marc Marquez
Bagnaia
Morbidelli
Zarco
Aldeguer
Alex Marquez
Quartararo
Acosta
Bezzecchi
Marini