MotoGP’s title race is heading towards a foregone conclusion at next week’s Portuguese Grand Prix, with Marc Marquez all but certain to take his 10th world championship crown. That his dominance in sprint races has been integral to his title success comes as little surprise, as the factory Ducati rider is the most successful competitor in the short-distance format, adding 10 wins this year to bring his career tally to 25.
The Impact of Saturday Races on the Standings
Across the opening 20 weekends, Marquez amassed 164 points in sprints at an impressive average of 8.2 per race, or 8.5 when factoring in his absence from the Barcelona sprint. In the 18 grands prix he contested, excluding Le Mans and Barcelona, he scored 267 points at an average of 14.8 per race. This means his sprint points haul is equivalent to more than 60 percent of his Grand Prix tally, even though Sunday races offer more than twice as many points as Saturday races, with 25 compared to 12 for a win.
When Marquez’s results are contrasted with those of his Aprilia rivals, the numbers become even more remarkable. In sprint races, Marquez scored 45 points more than Jorge Martin, a specialist in that format. Even after claiming four sprint wins, the 2024 champion fell short of Marquez’s tally this season. If sprint races were excluded entirely, Marquez and Martin would be separated by just 15 points in the standings, keeping the championship battle considerably more open heading into the final two rounds.
The Deficit Faced by Title Contenders
The starkest contrast, however, emerges when comparing Marco Bezzecchi’s results on Saturdays and Sundays. From the opening flyaway rounds of the season, it was clear that Bezzecchi needed to improve his sprint form if he was to challenge for his maiden premier class title. While he managed to clinch seven sprint podiums, the Italian accumulated just 80 points across Saturday races, which is less than half of Marquez’s haul.
While his fellow VR46 academy graduate Francesco Bagnaia also lost the 2024 title due to his sprint weakness, even the factory Ducati rider did not suffer such a significant deficit to his then-title-rival Martin. Purely based on grand prix results, Bezzecchi would actually be leading the championship by 10 points rather than trailing Marquez by 74.
Considering the mistakes Bezzecchi made in Sunday races this year, including a four-round spell across June and July in which he failed to score, it is remarkable that he still managed to outscore Marquez in grands prix. Yet his relative weakness on Saturdays has left him all but out of contention for the title.
Conversely, Marquez’s strategy of attacking in sprint races has worked wonders for his title challenge. On several occasions this season, he secured unlikely victories in the sprint, forcing Aprilia to play catch-up on Sunday. Those Saturday races have repeatedly given Marquez an advantage that his rivals have struggled to overcome, proving crucial to his latest championship bid.
