The sprint race took place under the night sky in the desert of Qatar. It was a special event because Fabio Quartararo was back at the front of the grid. The race started with Alex Márquez in the lead, and we were waiting to see if he could stay there until the end. This was also Fabio’s first time on the front row since 2022 in Assen.

The warm-up lap went smoothly. Jorge Martin had a great start, and Alex Márquez kept his second place. The top three didn’t change at first. Fermin Aldeguer made a strong start and moved up to fifth place. Franco Morbidelli was in fourth and doing well, but after a few corners, Di Giannantonio overtook Acosta.

Meanwhile, Alex and Marc Márquez began pulling away from the others. Maverick Viñales moved up to fifth place by overtaking Aldeguer. Fabio Di Giannantonio tried to pass Aldeguer but didn’t succeed. Francesco Bagnaia started gaining positions.

Alex Márquez went for a bold move in Turn 1, but his brother Marc took the lead back in Turn 2. Johann Zarco climbed to sixth place. Morbidelli was battling with Quartararo and managed to pass him for third.

Marc and Alex kept increasing their lead. Pecco (Bagnaia) moved up to ninth, while Alex Rins dropped back to 15th. On lap 2, Aldeguer ran wide but kept his position. Morbidelli had the fastest lap at the end of lap 2.

Ai Ogura successfully passed Pecco, and then Jorge Martin also overtook Pecco in the next corner. It was interesting to see the two championship rivals from last year battling again. Pecco was now in a tough spot, stuck between the Aprilia riders.

Quartararo had to defend his position from Viñales. At the front, Alex was still trying to find a way to overtake Marc. Aldeguer and Acosta were swapping places several times for seventh. Di Giannantonio joined the fight and passed Acosta, but Acosta took it back. Di Giannantonio tried again but couldn’t make it stick.

Marc and Alex kept building their lead. On lap 6, Di Giannantonio passed Zarco and made up more positions after his slow start. Marc had the fastest lap on lap 7, but Alex started to fall back. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin had some kind of issue and dropped to 17th place. Pedro Acosta passed Zarco, and Aldeguer was catching up to Viñales. Ogura also overtook Zarco.

Aldeguer then passed Viñales, moving up again. There was a big battle for 8th place between Acosta, Ogura, Zarco, and Pecco. On the last corner of lap 7, Pecco passed Zarco and started lap 8 in 10th place.

Morbidelli started losing time, with more than a 1-second gap behind Alex Márquez in second place. Alex also started falling behind his brother Marc, who was leading. Jorge Martin got a warning for going over track limits.

Fabio Quartararo started catching Morbidelli for third place. Pecco was also closing in on Acosta and managed to pass him, finally getting into the points. Acosta made a mistake at the end of lap 9, and Bastianini took his place.

Quartararo was now close to Morbidelli, trying to fight for third. Meanwhile, Pecco overtook Viñales and moved up to eighth place.

On the final lap, the fight for third was intense between Morbidelli, Quartararo, and Aldeguer. Fermin Aldeguer had a very impressive race. Morbidelli defended well, with Quartararo right behind and Aldeguer chasing them both.

In the last corner, Quartararo made a mistake and dropped to fifth. Aldeguer passed him and finished fourth.

Jorge Martin finished in 16th with a warning. Jack Miller, dealing with health issues, finished 19th. The race had no crashes.