MotoGP Qatar: Jorge Lorenzo Defends His Title Against Ducati

Jorge Lorenzo has thrown the gauntlet down and conquered the MotoGP Qatar first round.

MotoGP Qatar Race Report

Oh Lorenzo… what can we say? MotoGP Qatar was the first race of the Majorcan’s defending season, and it was an absolute triumph. If the champion’s aim was to stamp his mark on the MotoGP title, he has certainly done it with that flawless race win.

Starting in pole after a promising pre-season, Jorge showed his intentions from the start as he pulled away from the pack. A challenge soon came from the Ducati riders – on the straight line, they seemed absolutely unstoppable, with a formidable burst of extra speed.

Andrea Dovizioso kept the pace to stay on the podium in second place. The other Ducati didn’t fare so well: Iannone got too close to the edge on turn 13 of the 6th lap, trying to pass his teammate. He crashed out at high speed, the bike losing traction and sliding off the track.

Iannone’s crash allowed Lorenzo to pull out ahead – and, as we know by now, nothing stops Lorenzo when he gets some distance behind him. He then performed his usual trick of increasing the time gap each lap, shaving off the milliseconds until he crossed the line 2.019s ahead of the chasing Ducati.

Lorenzo was rightly overjoyed with his own performance: “We are there, in first position, without struggling and suffering and riding in the perfect way. For me, over all laps, this race has been one of the best of my whole career and that was why I was able to win and could make this little difference in the last three laps that gave me the victory.”

Marc Marquez couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of the leaders, but had a much better race than expected after problematic pre-season testing. Iannone’s crash allowed him to take the third spot on the podium, a good start to the season for Honda.

Marquez seemed very pleased to be competing again, smiling from ear to ear when talking to the press. He said: “I’m happy with this third place because I know that we gave our all…The race was faster than we expected and we had a great weekend, because we got 100% out of our performance at a circuit that we find hard.”

Return of the Doctor

So where was Rossi in Qatar? Going against our pre-season hopes and dreams, the Doctor settled for a tame fourth place in Qatar. Perhaps he’s holding back to get the feel of the new Michelin tyres, and there is something to be said for his cautious approach. After all, fourth is not a bad start, and gains him a decent 13 points.

Rossi explained that his tyre choice might have made a difference to the result: “At the end it was a great race, the pace was very fast from the beginning to the end…I was there but I was never in the real fight, I was always a little bit behind. We need a faster pace and maybe the tyre choice can make some difference, but we don‘t know.” Rossi went for a hard tyre combination, while Lorenzo’s choice of a soft rear tyre certainly paid off!

The good news for #46 fans is that Rossi has signed a two-year contract with Yamaha, before the season even started. That’s two more years of Rossi’s magic… and drama. Two more years to bag himself a 10th world title and bring Yamaha even more glory. Our feeling is that we haven’t seen the best of the veteran rider yet.

The Brits are Back!

The one to watch this season is 25-year-old Bradley Smith. After an impressive season in 2015, he finished 6th in the world standings – not bad for a young lad from Oxfordshire who has only been competing in the premier class since 2014.

All the hard work (and talent) has resulted in Bradley being snapped up by KTM – he will be their factory rider for 2017 and 2018 when they return to MotoGP. This year he’ll hopefully be riding his last satellite bike, and has started off well with an 8th place finish in the MotoGP Qatar.

Scott Redding also finished inside the top ten, with a 10th place finish gaining him 6 championship points. After tasting the glory of the podium last season, will the Octo Pramac Yakhnich racer enjoy another great year?

Cal Crutchlow is having a more troubled start to the season after crashing out in Qatar. After last year’s problems, it’s another disappointing result for the LCR Honda rider, but hopefully he can turn it around and see some better results.

Were you watching the MotoGP Qatar?

What did you think of the opening round? Who’s your favourite to win? Let us know what you think in the comments.

We’ll be back on April 4th with the next race report on MotoGP Argentina. Until then, happy Easter – keep the faith, Rossi fans!

Photo courtesy of motogp.com.