Marc Marquez wins in Qatar despite collision with brother

Marc Marquez recovered from a collision with his younger brother Alex Marquez on the opening lap to win the main race in Qatar and extend his lead at the top of the MotoGP standings.

The Spaniard, 32, finished ahead of Maverick Vinales and Francesco Bagnaia and now has an 17-point advantage over his 28-year-old sibling.

However, Vinales was given a 16-second penalty after the race for low tyre pressure, which demoted him from second position to 14th and promoted Franco Morbidelli on to the podium.

Ducati rider Marc Marquez had returned to the top of the riders' championship by winning Saturday's sprint and started on pole for the 22-lap main race on Sunday, but lost the lead after the contact between the two brothers in the first corner.

However, the six-time MotoGP champion recovered, overtaking Vinales to regain first place with seven laps remaining.

"The contact with Alex was a little bit more my mistake than his mistake," he said.

"I opened the gas, I felt like the rear was going and I closed the gas again, which he didn't expect. For that reason, he hit me and Morbidelli overtook me from the other side.

"Luckily for both of us, we stayed on the bike."

Alex Marquez, who led the MotoGP standings heading to Qatar, was penalised for making contact with Fabio di Giannantonio in a separate incident and eventually ended seventh on the road - rising to sixth after Vinales' penalty.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin, taking part in his first race weekend of the 2025 season, crashed out midway through the race.

The Spaniard suffered fractures to his hand and foot in a crash during pre-season testing.