MotoGP Qatar: Bezzecchi wins, Marquez must wait for world title

Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi, on an Aprilia, won the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail circuit on Sunday, a round of MotoGP, the premier class of motorcycle road racing's world championship. Spain's Marc Marquez of Ducati finished second, so he will have to wait another two weeks to win his eighth title. The event was held after a delay caused by the United States-Israel war on Iran, and it marked the return of major motorsport to the region for the first time since that war began.

Marquez, the defending champion, had a chance to secure the crown on Sunday after winning Saturday's sprint race. For that he needed his closest rival, Jorge Martin, to finish without points. Martin finished seventh.

Bezzecchi's win

Bezzecchi started from pole position and took his sixth Grand Prix win of the season, cutting his deficit to Marquez to 74 points. However, the third-placed rider in the standings has essentially no chance of winning the title, as the 74 points available in the remaining rounds equal the gap. On Saturday he had crashed out of the sprint while trying to overtake Marquez. After the win he said: "It was the performance we deserved."

What comes next

Martin, Bezzecchi's Aprilia teammate, was racing for the first time since breaking his right wrist, and his team gave him a round of applause. He is 60 points behind with two race weekends remaining. If Marquez finishes at least two points ahead of Martin in the Portimao sprint in two weeks, he will claim his eighth premier class title, one more than Valentino Rossi. Raul Fernandez finished third in Qatar.