Qatar Grand Prix grid down to 16 as Luca Marini withdraws

Luca Marini has withdrawn from Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, bringing the starting grid for the race down to a mere 16 bikes.

Marini has been struggling all weekend with fatigue symptoms, to the point that he did not come to speak to the media following the sprint on Saturday. This followed his withdrawal from the Australian GP weekend with a virus two weeks ago. In view of these struggles, he has decided not to tackle the 22 laps of Losail on Sunday.

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"Due to his ongoing state of fatigue, Luca Marini and the Honda HRC Castrol team have elected to withdraw him from the #QatarGP to focus on the final two rounds of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship," read a statement from HRC.

With team-mate Joan Mir already out of the race as he continues to battle health issues of his own, that puts both regular factory Honda riders on the sidelines.

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While Mir does have a substitute in the form of Jake Dixon, Marini's late withdrawal means he won't be on the grid. The same applies to that of Francesco Bagnaia, who broke two bones in his foot in a sprint accident on Saturday.

With the four Yamahas already having pulled out of this race due to the conflict in the region, the grid for the Sunday race will feature 16 motorcycles at best.

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There has been some doubt around the participation of Maverick Vinales, who spoke about curtailing his weekend after a demoralising sprint on Saturday. But the Spaniard did take part in the morning warm-up and there is no news of the mercurial Tech 3 rider following through on his threat to pull out.

While there have been smaller grids during the MotoGP era, the start at Losail will nonetheless look very thin on Sunday evening - and there will be implications for the championship battle.

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

With points awarded to the top 15 riders, the entry situation makes it highly unlikely that Jorge Martin will fail to score if he finishes the race - even one point will be enough to prevent Marc Marquez from wrapping up an 10th world championship on Sunday - even if the factory Ducati rider wins the race.

Bagnaia and Marini had qualified fifth and 14th respectively, but the riders behind one or both of them will move up accordingly on the republished grid.

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