Marc Marquez will start on pole for Sunday’s 22-lap 2025 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix. 

The factory Ducati rider came into the fourth round of the 2025 MotoGP season trailing Alex Marquez by a single point in the standings, after crashing out of the lead of the Americas GP two weeks ago. 

Marc Marquez also expected to struggle relative to his nearest rivals Alex Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, but snatched pole with a new lap record on Saturday in Qatar and went on to win the sprint. 

He now leads the championship again by two points and will be looking to extend that advantage on Sunday evening. Marc Marquez hasn’t won a Qatar GP since 2014, and hasn’t been on the podium on a Sunday at Lusail since 2019. 

Alex Marquez will go from second on the grid and is looking to at least maintain his 100% runner-up spot record following his run to second in the sprint on Saturday. 

Joining them on the front row is Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who was a fine fifth in the sprint. 

Pecco Bagnaia has been left in 11th on the grid following a crash in qualifying, with the factory Ducati rider unable to get any higher than eighth in a sprint where he struggle with the feeling of his bike on the smaller fuel load. 

He is now 21 points back in the championship. 

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin made his first race start of the year in the sprint after qualifying a solid 14th on his return from injury. He eventually faded to 16th in Saturday’s race and is hoping to simply make it to the chequered flag in the grand prix.

The 2025 Qatar GP begins at 6pm BST.