Marquez wins Lusail sprint, Bezzecchi contact not penalised

Marc Marquez won the Sprint race at Lusail and earned his first championship match point of the season, which will be decided on Sunday. His lead over Jorge Martin is now 49 points, and he needs to extend it by 74 points to clinch the title.

The main talking point is the contact with Marco Bezzecchi at Turn 1, which the stewards reviewed and decided did not warrant a penalty. Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola was caught on camera applauding sarcastically when he realised no penalty would be given, and the team is expected to voice its views.

Martin finished third despite being far from fully fit, holding off Fabio Di Giannantonio until the closing laps. Francesco Bagnaia had hoped for a better Saturday but was hit by Alonso Lopez, who braked late, and was reported to be heading back to Italy for foot surgery after suffering two broken toes.