Qatar MotoGP Sprint: First blood goes to Martin

Jorge Martin from Pramac Racing made it his tenth Sprint Race win as he easily led from start to finish unchallenged. Martin was mostly on cruise control in the 11-lap Sprint but KTM’s Brad Binder did try to initially breathe down the Spaniard’s neck after his blistering start from fourth to second. A calculative late charge by Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro ensured he took the final podium position. 

Qatar MotoGP: Martin remains the Sprint King

Martin timed his start to perfection as he easily pulled away from Aleix Espargo and Enea Bastianini, who started second and third respectively. With the Pramac rider taking control of the Sprint race, the best movers were the KTM duo, Binder and Jack Miller shot up from 11th to fifth. Sadly, the soft compound tyres let down the Australian as he sunk to tenth in Lap 3. Coming back to Martin, as the race went on, the Parmac rider continued to increase his lead and eventually crossed the finish line 0.548 seconds ahead of Binder.

Qatar MotoGP: Marc Marquez attack

As expected from the six-time MotoGP world champion, Marc Marquez took up the gauntlet and swept past other riders at ease. It all started on Lap 6 when he gained fifth place after overtaking Ducati’s Bastianini and then in the next lap Marquez moved up to fourth as he zipped past Espargaro.

The stage was set for the clash of the champions between Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati and Marquez but the latter went wide on Lap 8 letting Espargo snatch fifth position. It was now the Espargaro show as he locked his sight on Bagnaia and stormed to third place.

The defending champion had no option but to play it safe and solidify his fourth position. In the end, Marc Marquez finished fifth behind Bagnaia, with Bastianini and Alex Marquez coming sixth and seventh. Debutant Pedro Acosta from Tech3 had an impressive Sprint Race finished eighth and collected two precious points. Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales’ came ninth and scored one point while Miller rounded the top 10.