Marc Marquez returned to the top of the tables after a late mistake in the last round. Marquez has solidified himself at the front once again with his brother Alex Marquez finishing in second place. Alex came into the weekend with the championship lead and has embraced the consistency is key mantra having finished second in every race to date this year. Ducati has dominated the MotoGP season thus far and no other manufacturer has shown they can close the gap as of yet. In his return, Jorge Martin finished P16 which was a disappointing finish for the champion. Martin’s title defense seems over with the recent form from the Marquez brothers.
Marc Marquez said, “We’re having a good weekend, one that I think is the most important of the season for me. It’s too soon to draw conclusions, with the full race still awaiting us tomorrow. At the moment, Pecco, Alex and I have a similar level. From the fifth or sixth lap onwards, with used tires, I normally feel better in terms of riding, and that’s why I chose to try and pull away as soon as I felt that the bike was sliding a bit more. But the real difference this year has been in the time attack.”
Francesco Bagnaia finished in a poor P8 which puts his point deficit to Marc Marquez at 21 points heading into Qatar Grand Prix
“We gave it a try today, but it wasn’t doable, said Marquez. “I didn’t want to overtake him at that braking spot, but Marc did it earlier to pass me back and the attack finished there. I almost crashed at turn two while I was still close to him, and that’s when I realized it wasn’t the case to take risks. We bagged some more important points for the championship and gathered valuable data ahead of tomorrow’s race. Today Marc was faster than us and we must be happy with how it went.”
Qatar Sprint Race Results