2026 Qatar MotoGP, Lusail - Race Results

Marco Bezzecchi rebounds from his Sprint DNF by dominating the 2026 Qatar MotoGP at Lusail.

World championship leader Marc Marquez snatched a late second place from Raul Fernandez, but missed his first title chance.

Marquez, whose tangle with Bezzecchi left the Italian down and out on Saturday, had to win with injured rival Jorge Martin failing to score a point to secure the title.

Instead, pole qualifier and pre-race favourite Bezzecchi led from lights to flag, keeping his own fading title hopes alive.

Fernandez formed an Aprilia one-two by passing Marquez in the opening turns of the race, with Ducati star Marquez then losing third to the KTM of future team-mate Pedro Acosta.

Acosta tyre pressure woes

However, just as at Mandalika, Acosta let Marquez through several laps later, suggesting tyre pressure issues.

Rather than being re-passed by Acosta, Marquez later upped his pace and began hunting down Fernandez.

Jorge Martin seventh

Further back, Martin couldn’t repeat his Sprint heroics, salvaging seventh after losing ground in the early laps. Martin drops further behind Marquez in the world championship, but received a round of applause for his efforts from the Aprilia team.

Jake Dixon points

Retirements for Diogo Moreira and Brad Binder handed HRC stand-in Jake Dixon his first MotoGP points with 14th place. 

Tyres

After the likes of Marquez and Martin picked the soft rear in the Sprint, all riders used medium tyres front and rear for the 22-lap grand prix.

16 riders

With Yamaha absent and Pecco Bagnaia injured in the Sprint, the grid was then reduced to just 16 riders when HRC’s Luca Marini withdrew after warm-up ‘due to his ongoing state of fatigue’.

Portimao, Valencia

There will now be a weekend off before the final two rounds of the 2026 season, and the 1000cc/Michelin era, take place at Portimao and Valencia...

* Rookie

Warm-up:

Fabio di Giannantonio leads warm-up for the 2026 Qatar MotoGP at Lusail.

After title leader Marc Marquez won the Sprint on the soft rear tyre, most riders ran the medium rear for warm-up, the expected choice for this evening’s 22-lap grand prix.

However, warm-up was led by Sprint runner-up di Giannantonio on the soft rear with Bezzecchi, dominant on the medium tyre earlier in the weekend, half a second behind.

As at Sepang last weekend, Marquez made a late start to warm-up, with title rival Jorge Martin also skipping the opening minutes of the session.

Marquez finished fifth on a medium rear - behind the KTM's of Enea Bastianini and Pedro Acosta on the soft - with the injured Martin in tenth, the Aprilia rider saving a scare in the final minute.

Jake Dixon failed to set a lap time after a technical issue, with fellow Honda rider Diogo Moreira pulling off with smoke billowing from his RC213V.

Marc Marquez title chance

Marc Marquez has his first chance to wrap up the 2026 MotoGP title in Qatar this evening.

However, the factory Ducati star must win the Grand Prix and his nearest rival, Jorge Martin, must fail to score a point.

A Marquez victory would also end Marco Bezzecchi's fading title hopes. 

The Italian, who fell after clashing with Marquez in the Sprint, needs to beat the Ducati rider by five points to stay in mathematical contention, with Portimao and Valencia still to go.

Tonight's Qatar Grand Prix starts at 7pm local time (4pm UK)...

* Rookie

Official Qatar MotoGP Records:

• Best lap: Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia, 1m 50.028s (2026)
• Fastest race lap: Marc Marquez, Ducati, 1m 52.561s (2025)

Yamaha out, Bagnaia injured

Yamaha are not be participating in this weekend’s Qatar MotoGP due to ‘existing company-wide travel restrictions’.

The decision means Fabio Quartararo and factory Monster team-mate Alex Rins, plus Pramac riders Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez (replacing the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu) are all missing from round 20 of the season.

Sunday's grid line-up will be reduced to just 17 riders after Francesco Bagnaia suffered foot fractures when taken out by Fermin Aldeguer on the opening lap of the Sprint race.

Jake Dixon gets Honda MotoGP debut

Gresini’s Alex Marquez is also absent due to recent surgery, while HRC’s Joan Mir is again sidelined by fatigue-related vision issues. Marquez is replaced by Iker Lecuona and Mir by Honda WorldSBK rider Jake Dixon.

Dixon previously made a pair of MotoGP starts for Petronas Yamaha SRT in 2021, during his Moto2 career.