MotoGP: Marc Marquez title hopes on hold after second place in Qatar

Marc Marquez will have to wait to seal a record-equalling eighth MotoGP title after finishing second behind Marco Bezzecchi in the Qatar Grand Prix.

The 33-year-old Spaniard won Saturday's sprint race and would have clinched a second successive title, drawing level with Valentino Rossi's record tally, had main rival Jorge Martin finished outside the points in Sunday's grand prix.

However, Martin - the 2024 champion - returned from injury after withdrawing from the previous race with a fractured wrist to finish seventh.

Ducatti rider Marquez has a 60-point lead over Aprilia's Martin and will have another chance to clinch the title in the season's penultimate race weekend in Portimao, Portugal, in two weeks' time.

Pole-sitter Bezzecchi, Martin's Aprilia team-mate, claimed his sixth grand prix win of the season, while Spain's Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez was third.

Italian Bezzecchi can mathematically catch Marquez in the title race as he is 74 points behind him - the same number of points that remain available.