Marco Bezzecchi drove his Aprilia to a dominant victory at the Lusail International Circuit during the 2026 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix on November 8, 2026, while Marc Marquez moved within 14 points of clinching his eighth premier-class world championship.
Bezzecchi maintained the lead from the opening start and crossed the finish line in 41:29,170, securing his sixth win of the season and the 12th of his career, as reported by RTV Slo. The Italian rider became the only competitor in the history of the organization to record his first 12 premier-class victories on 12 distinct circuits, as the event featured 22 laps and was started by only 16 riders while being completed by 14.
Today I was completely confident in my strategy, which was to manage the race as best as possible in the first five laps, and it didn’t matter to me who broke away. My race was with Martin,
Bezzecchi said, as noted by Siol. Avtomanija added that the factory Aprilia rider delivered a dominant performance to claim the manufacturer’s very first podium finish at the Qatari track.
Behind the winner, fellow Italian rider Enea Bastianini secured fifth place for KTM finishing 6,948 seconds back, while Spanish KTM competitor Pedro Acosta placed sixth at 7,413 seconds behind after dealing with issues with front tire pressure.
Further down the order, Johann Zarco of LCR Honda finished ninth as the top representative for a Japanese manufacturer, and Gresini’s Iker Lecuona rounded out the top ten while substituting for the injured Alex Marquez. In the factory Honda squad, Jake Dixon replaced the unwell Joan Mir and finished fourteenth to secure his first-ever championship points in the premier class.
Marquez finished second on his Ducati, 3,083 seconds behind the winner, collecting 11 points to reach 431 overall points for the season. Raul Fernandez took third place for Trackhouse Aprilia 3,614 seconds back, followed in the top four by his Trackhouse teammate Ai Ogura, according to Avtomanija.
Marc Marquez: "Incidente con Bezzecchi? Non ho fatto nulla di strano"#SkyMotori #SkyMotoGP #MotoGP #QatarGP #Marquez #Bezzecchihttps://t.co/EbOG419QHI
When I overtook Acosta, or rather when he let me pass him due to tire pressure issues, I tried to control the rhythm more. At one point I was very fast, but because of riding like that too quickly
Marquez explained regarding his tyre pressure issues and race rhythm, according to Siol.
Dnevnik noted that Marquez had earlier won the Saturday sprint race after a collision involving Francesco Bagnaia, who crashed out at the end of the first lap and required hospital treatment for a double fracture in his right foot and multiple bruises, according to Krizisce.
During the main grand prix, Marquez dropped as low as fourth place in the early running after being overtaken by Raul Fernandez and Pedro Acosta, before recovering in the second half of the race to pass Fernandez just three laps from the finish. Jorge Martin held seventh position throughout the race despite his broken wrists, crossing the line 14,023 seconds behind the leader.
Jorge Martin placed seventh for Aprilia 14,023 seconds behind while recovering from broken wrists, leaving him second in the standings with 371 points, trailing Marquez by 60 points with 74 points still available across the remaining rounds.
The championship concludes with two final events: the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimao on November 22, 2026, and the season finale in Valencia, Spain, on November 29, 2026, where Marquez needs 14 more points to secure the title, as reported by RaiNews.
