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with Aleix Espargaro (Honda HRC Test Team) while form- ing up on the grid. Morbidelli returned to the pits and retired, later diagnosed with a left-hand fracture that also ruled him out of Tuesday's Valencia Test. "A shame what happened on the grid," Espargaro said, "but honestly, I feel bad because Morbidelli has picked up an injury." Espargaro's Honda was dam - aged in the collision and later retired. "We were racing with some damage, and at the start it was okay, but the exhaust was dragging and the footpeg was getting more and more loose, so I had to retire." When the lights went out, Bezzecchi launched cleanly to lead Alex Marquez, but chaos at turn four saw Zarco collide with nandez traded positions repeat - edly. Their battle allowed Bez- zecchi to close, but time ran out. On the final lap, Marquez sealed the Sprint victory ahead of Acosta, who claimed his fourth straight Sprint podium and moved to fourth in the standings after Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished 14th. Di Giannantonio held third ahead of Raul Fernandez, with Bezzecchi fifth. Morbidelli beat Quartararo for sixth, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) finished eighth, and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse April - ia) took ninth. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) completed the top 10. Sunday MotoGP The final MotoGP race of 2025 began with unexpected drama as Franco Morbidelli collided ROUND 22 / NOVEMBER 14-16, 2025 RICARDO TORMO CIRCUIT / VALENCIA, SPAIN P66 MARQUEZ'S RECOVERY 'GOING IN GOOD WAY' Marc Marquez was back in the paddock for the first time since he damaged his right shoulder in the Indonesian Grand Prix and insisted he will be ready to attack once more in 2026. "It's coming better," said Mar- quez, who suffered a fracture at the base of the shoulder blade and ligament damage in his right shoulder. "It takes time, because in the end, the right shoulder, we need to take care about all the small details. This week I started with some rehabilitation; now I need to be patient, like two or three more weeks, then when the bone will be fully fixed, I will start a bit better. But it looks like everything is going in a good way, and the most important thing is that this new injury didn't affect the other injuries. So, I will be in a good shape in 2026." BAGNAIA PHILOSOPHICAL AFTER MISTAKE IN QUALIFYING Pecco Bagnaia's weekend began with a mechanical issue, which brought his Q1 to an end prema- turely, causing him to qualify in 16th place. Asked whether the issue caused him frustration, he said, "Yeah, but last year I crashed in Barcelona when I was winning, and that made the team lose the championship. So every- body can make mistakes. My one was worse." On his day, he said, "Qualifying was missing. Fuel was missing," referring to his issue. "This morning, we improved, I was faster, I was able to improve Briefly... ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Raul Fernandez (25) closed to within four-tenths of a second of Bezzecchi (72), but the Italian had him covered.