Jorge Martin converts pole into victory in Qatar MotoGP sprint
Jorge Martin has won the first MotoGP sprint race of 2024, while Marc Marquez was fifth on his first race appearance for Gresini Ducati.
Leading the field away from pole, Jorge Martin made a great start as he led into turn one.
But it was the factory KTM duo who made the best starts as Brad Binder moved up from fourth to second, while Jack Miller came from the fourth row to go seventh, ahead of a battling Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
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Marc Marquez finally won the battle with Fabio Di Giannantonio and Jack Miller on lap two as he closed back in on the factory duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini.
The fastest rider on circuit, Marquez was looking ominous as Bagnaia moved up to third with a move on Aleix Espargaro at turn one.
A leading group of six, Martin was still the leader from Binder as they began lap five of 11.
Not in the lead battle, unlike four months ago when he won the Qatar MotoGP, Di Giannantonio crashed out of seventh on lap four.
A mistake at the end of lap five saw Bastianini give up P5 to Marquez, who was still quicker than the riders ahead of him.
While P5 was given to him due to a mistake, Marquez took P4 away from Espargaro one lap later with a stunning move on the brakes at turn one.
In the process Marquez nearly lost the front but the eight-time world champion managed to remain aboard his Gresini machine.
Lining up a move on Bagnaia for third, Marquez made a mistake on lap eight which allowed Espargaro to regain P4.
Fastest of the lead quartet, Espargaro then attacked Bagnaia on the penultimate lap but ran wide in the process.
Espargaro was not to be denied though as he came back through on Bagnaia at the end of the lap.
