MotoGP Round 4 2025 Report | Marc Marquez victorious again | The Championship leader eventually got the better of Maverick Vinales, but a post-race tyre pressure penalty for the #12 saw Morbidelli promoted to the podium in what was a captivating race in Qatar. Report: Ed Stratmann/MotoGP

Friday Practice and Saturday Qualifying
MotoGP

Friday belonged to a very fast Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team #21) after a late lap saw the Italian oust compatriot Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team #63) under the night lights at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar. Marc Marquez (#93) ensured two Ducati Lenovo Team machines were in the top three, as World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing #1) made his much-anticipated return to MotoGP action – and thankfully, it was a trouble-free day for the #1.

Read our MotoGP Round 3 report here...

Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) continued his run of qualifying supremacy with a new lap record pole position at Lusail, putting in a 1:50.499 on his final push to deny Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP #73) by just a tenth.

In third was a stunning performance from Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP #20) as Yamaha got back on the front row for the first time since 2022, meanwhile fortunes reversed for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #63 found himself down in P11 after sliding out on his second run.

The second row featured Friday’s fastest Morbidelli, who was just ahead of Marc on track to improve late on, pipping teammate Di Giannantonio. Then came another serious standout performer, as Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3 #12) made it three manufacturers on the front two rows of the grid in sixth.

Moto2

Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP #18) snatched top spot with a late lap in Moto2 Practice, seeing the Spaniard back at the summit after an Americas GP to forget. Gonzalez rocketed to P1 to finish ahead of Aron Canet (Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO #44) who was also able to move up to take P2. Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team #27) was P1 going into the final five minutes before being relegated to P3. He still managed to come away with one of his best results of his rookie season. Completing the top four was Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo #53), who improved to be just less than a tenth away from top spot.

Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) earned pole for the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, taking to the top by a tenth and a half to deny key rival Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team #96) as the Brit was forced to settle for second. The two have been duelling it out so far in 2025, and it looked like Doha would be no different. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) completed a front row of familiar names, as he hoped to kickstart his 2025 title charge.

Moto3

Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo #99) shone under the lights of Lusail on Friday to lay an early Moto3 gauntlet down. Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI #6) was the championship leader’s closest challenger in P2, the gap between the Spaniard and Japanese riders sitting at 0.244s, as Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) completed the top three.

Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) took a first pole position at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, pipping Joel Kelso (LEVELUP- MTA #66) by just 0.041. Championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) made up the front row as the grid set up for a stunner.

Behind that top three, Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team #54) sat fourth and just ahead of Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI #36), with rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo #83) completing the second row.

 

Saturday
Tissot Sprint

The scintillating 2025 Saturday streak kept up for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 secured a pole position and Tissot Sprint double at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar to wrestle back the championship lead from second-place finisher Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). The bronze medal went the way of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), as fellow Italian Francesco Bagnaia’s (Ducati Lenovo Team) evening ended with a disappointing P8.

The top three on the grid all launched off the line very well, but it was polesitter Marc Marquez who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer (#54) exchanged P4 at Turn 4, before the rookie got a little bit beaten up as Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol #5) forced their way through.

Meanwhile, at the end of the first lap, Bagnaia’s progress was P11 to P8. Not bad, but the Italian needed more. At the front, Alex got the better of Marc at Turn 1 on Lap 2, but the red corner bit straight back. And what were we saying about Pecco needing more? That’s exactly the opposite of what happened on Lap 2.

First Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing #37), then Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team #79) and then 2023 and 2024 title rival, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), were ahead of Bagnaia. What was going on with the #63?

At the front, Marc continued to lead Alex, with the gap between the two hovering around the 0.3s mark. Morbidelli was third, 0.7s further back, with Quartararo 0.3s away from his former teammate in P4. Viñales was well in touch in P5, as a mistake from Zarco cost the Frenchman a place to Aldeguer on Lap 4 of 11.

A fastest lap of the race was then set by Marc Marquez, seeing his lead stretch to 0.5s, but Alex Marquez responded with his personal best lap on the next lap to maintain that half a second. Elsewhere, Aldeguer was flying. The Gresini rider quickly reeled in Viñales and made a move stick with five laps left, with Bagnaia still outside of the points in P11. That was then P10 as Zarco lost more ground after running wide at the final corner, with Bagnaia now facing Acosta and Ogura.

Three laps to go. Marc Marquez was now 1.2s up the road and looked set to keep his 100% Sprint record, while Morbidelli was keeping Quartararo half a second behind him. Bagnaia passed Acosta at Turn 4 to climb into P9 – in other words, a point-scoring position.

Last lap time! The victory fight seemed over, but the podium battle certainly wasn’t. Morbidelli’s margin had disappeared as Quartararo and Aldeguer swarmed. Could they do anything to pinch a podium from the Italian? Not quite. A small error at the final corner saw Quartararo hand Aldeguer a free pass into P4, but for the fourth Grand Prix in a row, Marc Marquez doubled up on a Saturday. Alex Marquez’s P2 run continued, and Morbidelli did just about hold onto a bronze medal. Aldeguer’s mid to late Sprint pace was nothing short of sensational as the rookie bagged a very impressive P4, with Quartararo backing up his front row with a hard-earned P5.

“At the moment we keep the same performance as the first part of the season. I’m riding in a very good way, and in the Sprint I was super consistent controlling the gap, and then in the last two laps, I slowed down. I feel very good with the bike, and tomorrow let’s see if we can improve very small things for the race distance, but the feeling [today] was great,” Marquez explained.

Tissot Sprint Race Results

  1. Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo
  2. Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Ducati (+1.577s)
  3. Franco Morbidelli Pertamina VR46 Ducati (+3.988s)
  4. Fermin Aldeguer BK8 Gresini Ducati (+4.369s)
  5. Fabio Quartararo Monster Yamaha (+4.593s)

Sunday
MotoGP

The double in Doha – who’d have thought it? Some might, but not Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team). However, that’s exactly how it unfolded for the #93 as a frantic MotoGP battle played out in a Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar that saw Maverick Viñales clinch a first podium in Red Bull KTM Tech3 colours – or so we thought. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) recovered to P3 at the line after a dissatisfying Saturday, as drama unfolded for Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who was forced to settle for P7, which was then P6.

Why? Because after a tyre pressure penalty for Viñales post-race, most of the points scorers were promoted one position. It saw Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) elevated to P3 – and, of course, Bagnaia to P2. Those +16s demoted Viñales to P14.

Marc Marquez was the rider to earn the holeshot into Turn 1, but as the field exited the opening corner, contact was made between the #93 and Alex Marquez, with a piece of bodywork pinging off the rear end of the red machine. This allowed Morbidelli to take the lead into Turn 2 as Viñales made life harder for Alex Marquez. Top Gun was P3 through the fast Turn 3, but fair play to Marquez, as he bit back to get behind his older brother once more.

Morbidelli’s lead was up to 0.8s at the beginning of Lap 3, as Bagnaia made a decent start. The Americas GP winner was up to sixth before more contact! Alex Marquez was trying to muscle his way back past Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team #49) into Turn 12 but he misjudged it. Both went wide, with Marquez dropping to P7 and the luckless Di Giannantonio being forced back to P21. And for the incident, Alex Marquez was handed a Long Lap penalty.

Viñales’ P2 result is a huge boost for KTM – what a ride from Top Gun in Doha… but a post-race tyre pressure penalty for the #12 saw Morbidelli promoted to the podium…

Meanwhile, Bagnaia was on the move. On the anchors heading into Turn 1 on Lap 5, Bagnaia breezed past Marc Marquez to climb into second place. That meant the championship leader was third, Viñales was fourth, Johann Zarco (LCR Honda Castrol) was running in P5 with Fermin Aldeguer and BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP teammate Marquez in P6 and P7.

On Lap 6, Marquez completed his Long Lap penalty. The #73 went from P6 to P12, 4.9s away from Morbidelli. At the front, Marc Marquez forced his way back through on Bagnaia for P2 with 16 laps left. And right behind them, Viñales set the fastest lap of the race as Morbidelli’s lead continued to shrink. What were we saying about Viñales? At the end of Lap 7, the #12 passed Bagnaia for P3 and then set his sights on Marquez.

And with 13 laps to go, Viñales got the better of his second factory Ducati. This was stunning from the Tech3 star, and a lap later, he led. Same spot, same outcome. Morbidelli lost the lead for the first time, and Marquez powered past the Italian as well. Bagnaia was then desperate to pass Morbidelli as the VR46 Academy duo swapped positions five times on Lap 11 of 22, but it cost the pair crucial ground. Over the line, Bagnaia was 0.9s behind Marquez.

Zarco was the next rider to get the better of Morbidelli as the Frenchman grabbed P4, and the Italian started to immediately lose ground. With eight laps to go, Viñales was still holding Marquez at bay, with Pecco 0.8s behind the top two. Then, a mistake. Viñales was wide at Turn 6 and that opened the door for Marquez to take the race lead with seven laps to go, so what could Viñales and Pecco do?

The answer, for now, was not a lot. Marquez was the fastest of the trio, but only by a tenth over Bagnaia. However, Viñales was 0.3s slower than Marquez on Lap 17, so was this the KTM star beginning to run out of grip and steam? It wasn’t – it was Marquez finding pace. The fastest lap of the race was landed by the six-time MotoGP World Champion – it was two tenths quicker than Viñales and seven tenths faster than Pecco.

Three to go. Another fastest lap of the race for Marquez saw the #93 stretch his lead up to a second, as Bagnaia slipped 1.4s behind Viñales. And heading onto the last lap, it was as you were. Marquez led Viñales by 1.5s, Bagnaia was in a comfortable third, and sure enough, as the chequered flag waved, Marc Marquez bounced back from his Austin disappointment with an almighty bang. And with it, strengthened his championship position ahead of a date with Jerez.

Viñales’ P2 result is a huge boost for KTM – what a ride from Top Gun in Doha. Bagnaia will be disappointed to lose ground in the title chase, but after a below-par Saturday, a comeback ride to P3 was a job well done by the Italian.

Morbidelli did fight back in the end to earn P4 across the line, but as mentioned, that’s now P3 as Zarco held off the efforts of Aldeguer to earn a career-best Honda result in P4, while the latter earned his best Grand Prix result in MotoGP with a P5. Alex Marquez’s recovery ended with a P6, a top effort to get back there from the Spaniard, but that’s the run of P2s and podiums over.

“I needed to manage the front tyres, so for that reason in the first part of the race I was quiet,” Marquez reflected. “Morbidelli was going [ahead], but I predicted or I understood yesterday with the rhythms that he would not be fast in the second part of the race. Big surprise when Maverick overtook me. I thought it was Acosta because normally he is the fastest on KTM. He was super-fast, but I had that margin for the end. Victory in Qatar is amazing.”

MotoGP Race Results

  1. Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo
  2. Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo (+4.535s)
  3. Franco Morbidelli Pertamina VR46 Ducati (+6.495s)
  4. Johann Zarco Castrol Honda LCR (+6.668s)
  5. Fermin Aldeguer BK8 Gresini Ducati (+7.484s)

Check out the full MotoGP race results here…

MotoGP Championship Points

  1. Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo – 123
  2. Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Ducati – 106
  3. Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo – 97
  4. Franco Morbidelli Pertamina VR46 Ducati – 78
  5. Fabio Di Giannantonio Pertamina VR46 Ducati – 48

Moto2

The best win of his career? Surely the answer is yes. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) completed a stunning comeback ride to claim a first victory of the season, and with it, the Moto2 World Championship lead. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) finished P2 and P3 in Qatar, as Argentina and USA winner Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) crashed out of the race.

Gonzalez got the getaway he would have wanted from pole, with Dixon also launching well from the middle of the front row – but it was a disastrous start for Aron Canet (Fantic Racing). A big wheelie as the lights went out saw the Spaniard go from third down to P14 on Lap 1, as Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) made a rapid start – the rookie was P3 on Lap 1.

 

Canet’s climb back through the pack was impressive. The #44 was up to P5 on Lap 7, ahead of Gonzalez, as Öncü still led the pack that were locked together in the victory battle. That was then P2 with eight laps to go, as teammate Barry Baltus (#7) set the fastest lap of the race to cling onto the back of the top seven. Then, it was the top six because title race leader Dixon crashed at Turn 13 as he tried to chase down Gonzlaez. Not the night the #96 was searching for in Lusail.

With five laps to go, Canet hit the front for the first time after a small mistake from Öncü handed the Spaniard the lead, and from there, Canet began to stretch his legs. Heading onto the final lap, Canet was 1.1s clear of Öncü who in turn was doing a great job to keep Gonzalez behind him. And that’s how it stayed. A classy Canet comeback ride saw him clinch a first win of the season and the World Championship lead heading to Jerez, as Öncü grabbed a first podium of the year to finish ahead of third place Gonzalez. Rookie Holgado finished 2.7s away from the podium in P4, a fantastic effort from the #27, as Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team #10) beat Baltus in the P5 battle.

Moto2 Race Results

  1. Aron Canet Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO
  2. Deniz Oncu Red Bull KTM Ajo (+1.103s)
  3. Manuel Gonzalez Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (+1.286s)
  4. Daniel Holgado CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team (+4.021s)
  5. Diogo Moreira Italtrans Racing Team (+5.892s)

Moto2 Championship Points

  1. Aron Canet Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO – 71
  2. Manuel Gonzalez Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP – 61
  3. Jake Dixon Elf Marc VDS Racing – 59
  4. Daniel Holgado CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team – 36
  5. Marcos Ramirez OnlyFans American Racing Team – 35

Moto3

Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) is the new Moto3 Championship leader after defeating Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) on the drag to the line in Doha, with the duo split by just 0.009. Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) completed the podium for his second GP rostrum from a maiden pole position, with drama hitting late on for Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as a technical problem dropped him out of the fight for the win.

Yamanaka grabbed the holeshot and there wasn’t too much drama at the start, with the freight train forming from the off. But the penalty notifications came in quickly for those with Long Laps to serve – one for Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) and two for rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – dropping them down the order, and a crash for Dennis Foggia (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team #71) that saw him tag David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP #64) took them out of the front group, Foggia out of the race and Muñoz dropped down the order.

At the front, it became a leading quartet of Yamanaka, Joel Kelso (LEVELUP – MTA), Rueda and Piqueras, with a gap back to David Almansa (Leopard Racing #22) heading the fight for the top five. It closed up again as the laps ticked down though, and Almansa slid out of contention, leaving six riders battling before Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) faded from the group to make it five.

Just before the final lap, huge drama suddenly hit in the title chase as Rueda sat up. The former championship leader had a mechanical and was out of the fight, leaving four riders to fight for three places on the podium. As ever at Lusail, the chopping and changing went right to the wire. At Turn 14 on the last lap, Furusato took over in front as he decided to be the defender at the final corner, and defend he did – but maybe too much.

The #72 stayed well on the inside and was ahead on the exit too, but Piqueras got the hammer down and just beat him to the line by 0.009. Furusato just missed out on that maiden win, but Piqueras made a 25-point gain on Rueda to just take over as the championship leader. Yamanaka fended off Kelso to follow up a maiden pole with a second-ever podium. Kelso was forced to settle for fourth this time round, ahead of Rossi and an impressive comeback from Muñoz after getting forced wide by Foggia’s crash.

Moto3 Race Results

  1. Angel Piqueras FRINSA -MT Helmets – MSI
  2. Taiyo Furusato Honda Team Asia (+0.009s)
  3. Ryusei Yamanaka FRINSA -MT Helmets – MSI (+0.042s)
  4. Joel Kelso LEVELUP – MTA (+0.097s)
  5. Riccardo Rossi Rivacold Snipers Team (+7.295s)

Moto3 Championship Points

  1. Angel Piqueras FRINSA – MT Helmets – 67
  2. Jose Antonio Rueda Red Bull KTM Ajo – 66
  3. Joel Kelso LEVELUP – MTA – 41
  4. Adrian Fernandez Leopard Racing – 40
  5. Matteo Bertelle LEVELUP – MTA – 40

How Did the Aussies Do?

It was a challenging weekend for Jack Miller in Qatar, with tyre issues and a crash in the race ensuring it was a round to forget for the Aussie. Aussie flyer Joel Kelso enjoyed an excellent showing in Losail, as not only did he clinch P2 in qualifying, but he also went on to produce a fine display to cross the line in fourth. Forced to do three Long Lap penalties in Qatar, mustering 14th was a reasonable result in the trying circumstances by Senna Agius. On his return to racing following injury, Jacob Roulstone claimed a respectable 14th in the hugely demanding Moto3 class.

Check out the full MotoGP race results here…

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