Marc Marquez will have to wait to secure a record-equalling eighth MotoGP title after finishing second behind Marco Bezzecchi in the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 33-year-old Spaniard, riding for Ducati, won Saturday's sprint race and would have clinched the championship had main rival Jorge Martin finished outside the points. Martin, the 2024 champion, returned from a fractured wrist to finish seventh, leaving Marquez with a 60-point lead over the Aprilia rider.
Marquez will have another opportunity to wrap up the title at the penultimate round in Portimao, Portugal, in two weeks. Pole-sitter Bezzecchi claimed his sixth grand prix victory of the season, while Raul Fernandez completed the podium in third place.
Bezzecchi remains mathematically in contention, trailing Marquez by 74 points with exactly 74 points still available.
