Marc Márquez caresses his tenth World Championship and could be champion this Sunday

BarcelonaLuck smiles on Marc Márquez. The rider from Cervera could be world champion for the tenth time this Sunday (5 PM / DAZN). The Catalan has seen how everything went his way in the sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix, a race where the Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia RS-GP) tried to put up a fight, but ended up hitting the ground when he tried to overtake Márquez on the fourth lap in a very controversial action. Márquez ended up winning the sprint race and on Sunday he will have his first match point to become champion. He would have to win the race and Jorge Martin must not score any points.

The race had started with a very strong Bezzecchi who took the lead, with another Italian, Pecco Bagnaia second ahead of Márquez. The Ducati rider, after some very complicated seasons, had stated that he was finally enjoying riding again, but Bagnaia risked so much that he suffered a very hard crash that forced the red flag to be shown and the race to be stopped. When the race restarted 15 minutes later, Márquez took advantage of it and took the lead, with Bezzecchi behind him trying to attack him.

Jorge Martin, despite the pain he is suffering as he was operated on his right arm 15 days ago, staged a great comeback and placed third. Up front, Bezzecchi knew he had to take risks and, in attempting to overtake Márquez on the fourth lap, he collided with him while trying to pass on the inside and fell. Márquez managed not to fall in a very controversial action, as Bezzecchi's team asked for a penalty for the Catalan that never arrived. Martin managed to climb up to the second position, but he could no longer get close to a Márquez who added a new triumph. If Martin had finished second today, he would have scored the necessary points to prevent the Catalan from having the option of being champion on Sunday, but Fabio Di Giannantonio ended up overtaking him. And Cervera could experience a huge celebration as early as this Sunday.

To be champion this week, Márquez needed to score thirty points more than Jorge Martín in Qatar between the sprint race and the Grand Prix. That is to say, he needs to win the race and for Martin not to score any points. If he achieves it, he would add his tenth world crown, his eighth in MotoGP, a fact that would allow him to surpass the nine World Championships of Valentino Rossi. Only Ángel Nieto, who won thirteen, would have more.

Bezzecchi, with the pole position

Márquez will face the Grand Prix behind the Italian Marco Bezzecchi, who snatched the 'pole position' from him with a new absolute record, showing that he still wants to put up a fight. Bezzecchi, who has secured his sixth 'pole position' of the season, managed to break the record twice, which his compatriot Fabio di Giannantonio (Ducati Desmosedici GP26) set during Friday's official practice at 1.50.406, bringing it down to 1.50.028.

Jorge Martín (Aprilia RS-GP) managed to finish in eleventh position. Márquez took it with some calm in the free practice sessions, aware that with Martín injured, he would have to suffer a fall not to be world champion. With the absence of the Yamaha riders, who did not want to go to Qatar due to distrust of the military escalation in the area, the Aprilias and the Ducatis have dominated.