Marc Marquez’s recipe for the World Championship: Saturdays are worth their weight in gold

The MotoGP championship is entering its final stages, with Marc Marquez holding a 60-point lead over Jorge Martin and a 74-point advantage over Marco Bezzecchi in the standings. The Ducati star has clawed back more than a hundred points on the leader after recovering from an injury to his right arm. He has also benefited from the points earned in the Sprint races.

The Cervera phenomenon has outperformed his Aprilia rivals on Saturdays, winning ten of the twenty Sprint races held across the Grands Prix. He has scored a remarkable 164 points in the short races (a 50% win rate), compared with 119 for “Martinator” and 80 for “Bez.” His first victory came in Goiania, Brazil, when Marc was not at his best but made the most of a session affected by rain.

Two Grands Prix later, at the Jerez circuit, he added another 12 points in the MotoGP Sprint, despite crashing in Sunday’s race. It was during this period, between April and June, that Marquez seemed to drop out of the title fight, struggling to finish races convincingly and suffering pain that required surgery. In Hungary, he returned to the forefront after going three races without a win, taking victory in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix to claim his first triple-digit points haul of the season with 37 points.

After returning to the top at Balaton Park, he secured another double victory at Sachsenring. At Aragon, he scored an impressive 37 points (12+25). The same scenario played out at Misano, where Marc Marquez claimed his fourth Sprint-and-race double. In Austria, the Ducati rider did not have his best weekend, although, as he had at other circuits, he salvaged the Grand Prix in the Sprint by finishing second behind Martin. At the following Grand Prix in Japan, Marquez again scored 37 points.

During MotoGP’s Asian tour, the number 93 effectively secured the world title by making the most of the Sprint races at tracks where he was not the favourite. In Indonesia, for example, he finished sixth in the main race but still won Saturday’s Sprint, adding 7 points to his advantage over Martín and 12 over Bezzecchi, who crashed before winning on Sunday. In Australia, Marc won again, gaining another 12 points on Jorge, who crashed and fractured his wrist, while Sunday’s race was cancelled. In Malaysia, Marc finished second on Saturday behind Pedro Acosta, ahead of Bezzecchi and Martin. He also won the main race, sealing victory and heading into the championship with Bezzecchi in sixth place.

In Qatar, he dealt Bezzecchi a decisive blow when the latter crashed in the Sprint. The Cervera rider took the win, despite sparking some controversy over the overtaking move that put his rival out of the race. The Aprilia rider from Romagna did win on Sunday, however, claiming a satisfying revenge. Ultimately, it is clear that Saturday’s Sprints gave Marc Marquez a decisive boost on his way to the 2026 MotoGP title. One statistic speaks for itself: 38.1% of Marc’s points have come from the Sprints, 3% more than last year, when he dominated the Grands Prix with greater ease.

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