MotoGP’s controversial Qatar Grand Prix could go ahead without as many as nine regular riders on the grid on Sunday, as a spate of injuries and Yamaha withdrawing both of its teams from the event setting up a watered-down grid at Lusail.
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Elsewhere, Marc Marquez has a possible if statistically improbable path to his eighth premier-class world title as soon as this weekend in Qatar, while departing Aprilia rising star Ai Ogura put his hand up to take the lion’s share of the blame for an incident with stablemate Marco Bezzecchi in Malaysia that reduced the Italian rider’s already tenuous hold on world championship contention.
There’s that and more in MotoGP Pit Talk, your news wrap of the stories behind the headlines ahead of this weekend’s 20th round of the season at Lusail in Qatar from November 6-8.
Marquez wins Malaysia MotoGP | 00:57
BOYCOTT, INJURIES COULD LEAD TO CUT-DOWN GRID IN QATAR
MotoGP could be missing over one-third of its regular 22-rider grid for the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend, as details emerge on which riders reportedly broke ranks with their colleagues and refused to sign a letter to MotoGP organisers demanding they take full responsibility should the event get called off or the paddock is unable to depart Qatar safely if the US/Israel versus Iran military conflict escalates.
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The Qatar round of the championship was postponed from April to November because of the volatile political situation in the region, with military activity expected to increase after the US mid-term elections this week.
After multiple meetings between the riders, teams and MotoGP management in Malaysia last weekend, Yamaha sensationally withdrew its two teams from the Qatar round, a statement reading: “Yamaha has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions; as a result, Yamaha has informed MotoGP Group about its decision not to participate in the 2026 Qatar Grand Prix. This decision reflects Yamaha’s assessment of the information currently available and is independent of the measures implemented by MotoGP Group and the event organizer.”
Yamaha’s boycott means its factory team, campaigning 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins, and its Pramac Racing team featuring Jack Miller – one of the few riders willing to discuss Qatar in his post-Malaysia GP media debrief – will be absent at Lusail.
After finishing third at Sepang, Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez returned to Madrid for surgery to remove a plate inserted into his right collarbone after his horrific accident in Catalunya in May, and won’t return until the penultimate round in Portugal (November 20-22) at the earliest.
Honda’s Joan Mir, who missed four rounds from Austria to Australia with an undisclosed illness, retired from last Sunday’s race in Malaysia with fatigue and dizziness issues, and also won’t be on the grid this weekend.
Doubts remain over the availability of Aprilia pair Jorge Martin, who broke his right wrist in a sprint race crash in Australia and had to abort his participation in Malaysia as he attempted to keep his championship hopes alive, and stablemate Raul Fernandez, who broke two fingers in a sprint race crash in Indonesia in October and withdrew from the past two events in Australia and Malaysia.
Additionally, Alex Marquez’s teammate Fermin Aldeguer, who broke his left hand in an opening-lap crash in Indonesia, has missed the past two rounds.
While Gresini Ducati and Honda HRC look set to field World Superbikes regulars Iker Lecuona (for Alex Marquez) and Jake Dixon (for Mir) respectively this weekend, MotoGP looks set for a threadbare grid at a round that, given the volatile geopolitical situation, Miller described at Sepang as one “nobody wants to go” to.
“There’s 19 of us that don’t want to go there,” he said.
“I don’t think we should be racing a motorcycle in those sorts of conditions. As riders, we’ve united and done the best we can what with ammunition we have, not only for us as riders but also for other people in the championship. If you speak to 50 per cent of the paddock, nobody wants to go.”
In the aftermath of Miller’s comments, Spanish publication AS reported that the trio of riders who didn’t sign the letter to MotoGP were Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who remains in mathematical but unlikely title contention, fellow Aprilia rider Ai Ogura, and Honda’s Johann Zarco.
“To be honest, I don’t really care … I’m a rider (and) if there is a race, my job is to race … it’s quite simple,” Ogura told TNT Sports in Malaysia.
Jack Miller erupts at pit crew | 00:45
MARTIN’S FITNESS COULD DELAY MARQUEZ CORONATION
Jorge Martin’s injury struggles and Marco Bezzecchi’s freefall from the top of the standings opens up a chance for Marc Marquez to win the premier-class title for the second successive year and eighth time overall on Sunday in Qatar, with Martin’s availability and fitness the likely determining factors if the Spanish great is to secure the crown with two rounds remaining.
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The 33-year-old romped to his first title since 2019 last season, winning 11 Grands Prix and 14 sprints to build an insurmountable lead with five rounds remaining.
This year, after he missed Grands Prix in France and Catalunya and fell 102 points behind then-leader Bezzecchi after the Italian Grand Prix in May, Marquez only took the outright lead in the standings after round 18 in Australia, extending that to 44 points after he won the Malaysian Grand Prix last Sunday with Martin absent injured.
For Marquez to secure the title this weekend in Qatar, he needs to outscore Martin by a minimum of 30 points and Bezzecchi by eight to build a lead of at least 74 points before the final two rounds in Portugal and Valencia.
Winning the title after falling 102 points behind the leader would be a MotoGP record; previously, the 91-point comeback by Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia’s to win the 2022 title over Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo represented the biggest deficit overhauled in MotoGP history.
Marquez – who didn’t even finish on a Grand Prix podium in the opening seven rounds – has won seven of the 11 held since, those seven wins representing all seven of his Grand Prix podiums this season, fewer than Bezzecchi (11) and Martin (nine). The Ducati ace has outscored Bezzecchi by at least eight points in seven of the 19 rounds held this year.
While he’s outscored Martin by more than the 30 points he needs to guarantee the title just twice this season (Hungary in round eight and Malaysia last weekend), Martin’s fitness even if he does attempt to race in Qatar remains the biggest question-mark.
Martin bravely attempted to ride at Sepang last weekend just six days after fracturing his right wrist, but withdrew from the event after Saturday practice, Marquez finishing second in the sprint and winning the main race to strike a decisive blow in the title fight.
On a weekend where the grid is likely to be significantly reduced – and where the Grand Prix pays points down to 15th place and the sprint to ninth place – Martin is incentivised to at least try to earn some points to keep his flickering title flame alight, with an extra fortnight of recovery on offer until Portugal and then Valencia at the end of November.
’70-30 MY FAULT’: OGURA TAKES BLAME FOR BEZZECCHI BATTLE
Aprilia’s Ai Ogura has accepted the lion’s share of the blame for an incident late in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix where he made contact with Marco Bezzecchi, with the factory Aprilia rider eventually calming down after he was initially furious when he fell to sixth place at Sepang, losing valuable championship points.
Bezzecchi spent the majority of the race in fourth place, but made contact with fellow Aprilia rider Ogura between turns 1-2 at Sepang on the third-last lap of the 20-lap race, and was then demoted to sixth on the final lap by KTM’s Enea Bastianini after running wide at the penultimate corner.
Bezzecchi was fuming when he returned to the Aprilia garage after the race after he lost three world championship points in the final two laps to fall 67 points behind Marc Marquez in the standings
Afterwards, Ogura said the move on Bezzecchi, whose soft-compound rear Michelin tyre was in bad shape after he’d spent the majority of the race chasing third-placed Alex Marquez for the final podium place, was “a little bit my fault”.
“I didn’t see him and I expected that he holds his line going into turn 2, but he tried to hit the apex again in turn 1,” Ogura added.
“That’s something I didn’t expect, so I feel like (blame for the clash was) 70-30, 70 on me. He didn’t get any drive out of (turn) 14 and turn 3. that’s where I could catch him. After that I started to have a lot of chances.”
Bezzecchi later clarified his annoyance was where Ogura tried to pass, not that the Japanese rider had made a robust move.
“Ai was a bit faster than me, so I think he would have overtaken me pretty soon, maybe three corners later,” Bezzecchi said.
“The contact was not necessary just because we risked to crash, both of us. It’s something that can happen. Obviously when you have the speed, you try to overtake. I know it, I’m a rider as well, so no hard feelings.”
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