Marc Marquez beat Fabio di Giannantonio in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint after a late duel to claim his first victory since coming back from serious injury.
The factory Ducati rider capitalised on a late error from di Giannantonio with three laps remaining to take the lead, before resisting the VR46’s late counterattack to take the chequered flag by just 0.213s.
The result marked his first win in any contest since the San Marino Grand Prix in September.
The start of the Goiania sprint was delayed by 80 minutes as track workers repaired a major crater that had appeared on the start/finish straight following qualifying.
When the action got underway, di Giannantonio made a clean start from pole position to lead into Turn 1, while Fabio Quartararo jumped from fourth to second after passing Marco Bezzecchi and then Marc Marquez into Turn 4.
Reigning MotoGP Marquez managed to retake second position from Quartararo under braking for Turn 1 on lap 3 of 15, but by this point, di Giannantonio had pulled out a lead of almost a second.
The VR46 rider continued to extend his advantage in the early laps, but Marquez began reeling him in around halfway through the sprint, bringing the gap down to a second on lap 7.
Marquez was in striking distance with about five laps to go, but the decisive moment came on lap 13 when di Giannantonio got out of shape exiting Turn 12.
Marquez immediately pounced on the opportunity to take the lead, but di Giannantonio kept him honest until the chequered flag.
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Photo by: Evaristo Sa / AFP via Getty Images
Both riders set the exact same time on the final lap, but Marquez never left the door open for his rival to return to the spot on the podium.
While Quartararo made an impressive start to the race to run in podium positions behind di Giannantonioand Marquez, his pace quickly faded through the sprint, leaving him behind a trio of Aprilias.
The best representative from the Noale brand was 2024 champion Jorge Martin, who benefitted from a mistake from team-mate Bezzecchi on the sixth lap to grab third position. The result marked his own return to the podium after a nightmare injury-ridden 2025 season.
Bezzecchi couldn’t close the gap back to Martin and wound up fourth, ahead of the top Trackhouse Aprilia of Ai Ogura.
Behind Quartararo, Alex Marquez finished a lonely seventh on the Gresini Ducati, while factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia held off the KTM of Pedro Acosta to take eighth.
Home favourite Diogo Moreira came close to snatching the final point off Acosta, but had to ultimately settle for 10th position.
Gresini sophomore Fermin Aldeguer suffered a major wheel spin on his return to MotoGP and tumbled to 20th place at the start, before recovering to finish 14th.
Pramac rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu also lost multiple places on the opening lap and could finish no higher than 18th.
LCR’s Johann Zarco and factory Honda rider Joan Mir crashed out in early laps, while Tech3 runner Maverick Vinales also joined them in the list of retirees.
Photos from Brazil GP — Saturday
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Brazil GP — Saturday, in photos
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