Despite his injury, World Champion Marc Marquez started his MotoGP title defence with a victory in Qatar, beating Valentino Rossi in a close battle, with Dani Pedrosa coming home third. The first MotoGP race of the year saw tight battles between Marquez’s Honda and Rossi’s Yamaha, while Jorge Lorenzo crashed out on lap one.
On the later stages, it turned into a two-way battle between Marquez and Rossi as the two swapped places and even came close in contact. However, the Spaniard edged Rossi in the last corner to cross the finishing line by less than three-tenths of a second. Marquez’s team mate, Dani Perdosa, completed the podium by the third place finish.
“I enjoyed this [win] a lot,” said Márquez. “On the race there was a question mark over the last laps. I didn’t expect this yesterday, I didn’t think about the injury [in the race]. The last lap I pushed 100 percent, the lap before we passed two or three times. Last year Valentino and I battled, and he won, this year I won!”
Rossi was pleased with his result despite starting the race in tenth. “It was a great battle, although I enjoyed it a little bit less than Marc,” he jokingly said. “But it was great, I enjoyed [it] a lot and starting from the fourth row I had to risk. The bike was very good, and I had the potential to fight with Marc. I had a chance, but he was stronger than me, but it’s a great way to start the season.”
The next MotoGP race is in Austin, Texas on 14th April.
Qatar MotoGP Results
Pos. Driver Team Time
1. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 42:40.561
2. V. Rossi Yamaha +0.259
3. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda +3.370 +3.111
4. A. Espargaro Forward +11.623 +8.253
5. A. Dovizioso Ducati +12.159 +0.536
6. C. Crutchlow Ducati +28.526 +16.367
7. S. Redding Gresini +32.593 +4.067
8. N. Hayden Aspar +32.628 +0.035
9. C. Edwards Forward +39.547 +6.919
10. A. Iannone Pramac +43.360 +3.813
11. H. Aoyama Aspar +46.595 +3.235
12. Y. Hernandez Pramac +46.688 +0.093
13. K. Abraham Cardion AB +50.581 +3.893
14. D. Petrucci Ioda +1:03.127 +12.546
15. B. Parkes Paul Bird +1:14.386 +11.259
16. M. Laverty Paul Bird +1:32.593 +18.207
17. M. Di Meglio Blusens +1:36.085 +3.492
18. A. Bautista Gresini no time +3.492
19. B. Smith Tech 3 no time +3.492
20. P. Espargaro Tech 3 no time +3.492
21. S. Bradl LCR no time +3.492
22. H. Barbera Blusens no time +3.492
23. J. Lorenzo Yamaha no time +3.492
