2019 MotoGP – Qatar Round 1

Andrea Dovizioso claims Qatar victory

Jack Miller a DNF – Remy Gardner P4 in Moto2

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Qatar marked the closest top 15 riders in history, but wasn’t without its dramas, with Andrea Dovizioso claiming the overall win for Mission Winnow Ducati, closely followed by Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow. Just missing the podium was Alex Rins and Valentino Rossi.

Andrea Dovizioso

“I’m super happy about this win, especially because after the tests I wouldn’t have expected to be so fast. We stayed focused and we made progress in each session. Our strategy in the race was simply to preserve the tyre, and this made the difference, but it wasn’t easy because I led for most of the race and I couldn’t really study my opponents. Marquez gave it everything he could, as usual, and pushed me to the limit. We made the most of our strengths, that is, acceleration and top speed, but we still need to improve our corner speed. This year there are plenty of quick riders and it’ll be crucial not to lose too many points on less favorable tracks. We need to keep our feet on the ground and continue working in this direction.”

One point of note was protests concerning aerodynamic devices on the rear swing arm of Ducati machinery ridden by Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller, however based on guidelines and regulations currently in force, the FIM MotoGP Stewards Panel rejected these protests.

It was Dovizioso who got the holeshot from pole, he and Jack Miller grabbing P1 and P2 into Turn 1 as Marquez held position just behind. Polesitter Maverick Viñales didn’t get the start he would have been aiming for as he dropped to sixth on Lap 1, with Takaaki Nakagami and teammate Crutchlow catapulting through to the top five.

The race then began to settle into a rhythm, with a train of riders at the front led by Dovizioso keeping a steady pace at the front. Rins was the man on the move on Lap 4 as the Spaniard made more progress after a sharp start from P10 on the grid, the Suzuki man coming through to take the lead by Lap 5 before the Spaniard duelled Dovizioso for the pleasure. It remained a lead group of nine following each other line astern, however, with no one breaking rank just yet.

On Lap 12 the number 04 was back at the front, and the pace then turned up a notch as he and Marquez started to create a gap back to third place Danilo Petrucci, who’d made his way through the group. The pace then slowed again, however, as Dovizioso went from a 1:55.3 to a 1:56.1 to bring the top eight back to within just over a second…

With seven laps to go, the top eight were covered 1.2 seconds and that’s when Rossi really started to make up ground, picking off his teammate first and then Joan Mir to go up to P6. With three laps to go the fight for the win became a five-way scrap, with Petrucci, Viñales and Mir fading off the pacesetters.

Reigning World Champion Marquez had got the better of Dovizioso on the penultimate lap, but the Ducati struck back down the straight. Crutchlow held P3, Rins P4 and Rossi P5, menacing behind and waiting for the fireworks to begin in the lead. Pushing hard, Marquez had a slight moment with the front at Turn 3, before making a lunge up the inside of Dovi at Turn 10. He couldn’t keep it though as the Desmosedici was able to cut back up the inside on the exit, setting up another classic grandstand finish.

It looked like a carbon copy of 12 months ago at the final corner, but it was the same edge-of-the-seat heart-in-your-mouth moment as Marquez dove through on the inside, sitting up Dovi but running wide as he couldn’t quite get it stopped in time. From there it was another classic point and shoot contest to the line as both gunned it on the exit, but Dovizioso couldn’t be caught and made it out ahead.

It was closer than before though, with an infinitesimal 0.023 separating the two as the flag waved. Behind, Crutchlow kept his cool to take a remarkable podium on his first race back since his huge Australian GP crash, with Rins a valiant P4 and Rossi again proving you should never count ‘The Doctor’ out. P5 from P14 on the grid was another impressive race day showing from the nine-time World Champion.

Petrucci would have to settle for P6 on his maiden factory Ducati ride, 2.320 behind his teammate in the end, with polesitter Viñales crossing the line 0.161 back from ‘Petrux’, in P7.

Mir produced a fantastic rookie ride to finish just over five seconds off the race win in P8, with the Spaniard beating ninth place Nakagami and tenth place Aleix Espargaro – and just 9.636 covering the top 10 in Qatar.

Franco Morbidelli was just 0.011 behind Espargaro in P11 on his debut ride for Yamaha, with Pol Espargaro, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone and Johann Zarco completing the point scoring positions.

So who was the ride of the day? Far from the podium in the end and not scoring any points on his debut, an argument could be made for Fabio Quartararo regardless. The rookie was forced into a pitlane start after issues on the grid ahead of the Warm Up lap, and set about unleashing some almighty pace and nerves of steel for a first ever premier class appearance.

Fastest laps flowed from the Frenchman and he was soon into point-scoring contention…although sadly, it wouldn’t last. Too much too early in a bid to catch the group ahead saw Quartararo fade back to P16 by the flag – but only eight tenths off Zarco. Fellow debutant Miguel Oliveira also impressed and, for some time, was top KTM, before fading slightly, a fate that also befell Mir further forward as they all aim to gain more full-length race experience.

Final rookie Francesco Bagnaia suffered a DNF, with more to come from him in Argentina for sure, and his more veteran teammate Jack Miller also suffered some bad luck. The Australian fell victim to some problem with his machine that saw him drop from podium contention to suddenly outside the top ten, then retiring before the end of the race.

That’s all she wrote from Qatar but what a story it was. Records broken and history made, five riders in six tenths makes for an awesome opener…even before looking at the winning margin of 0.023. But then, past the stats, it’s much more than a numbers game and always has been.

Qatar MotoGP Race Results

Pos	Rider	Nation	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Andrea Dovizioso	ITA	Ducati	42’36.902
2	Marc Marquez	SPA	Honda	+0.023
3	Cal Crutchlow	GBR	Honda	+0.320
4	Alex Rins	SPA	Suzuki	+0.457
5	Valentino Rossi	ITA	Yamaha	+0.600
6	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Ducati	+2.320
7	Maverick Viñales	SPA	Yamaha	+2.481
8	Joan Mir	SPA	Suzuki	+5.088
9	Takaaki Nakagami	JPN	Honda	+7.406
10	Aleix Espargaro	SPA	Aprilia	+9.636
11	Franco Morbidelli	ITA	Yamaha	+9.647
12	Pol Espargaro	SPA	KTM	+12.774
13	Jorge Lorenzo	SPA	Honda	+14.307
14	Andrea Iannone	ITA	Aprilia	+14.349
15	Johann Zarco	FRA	KTM	+15.093
16	Fabio Quartararo	FRA	Yamaha	+15.905
17	Miguel Oliveira	POR	KTM	+16.377
18	Karel Abraham	CZE	Ducati	+22.972
19	Tito Rabat	SPA	Ducati	+23.039
20	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	KTM	+43.242
Not Classified
/	Bradley Smith	GBR	Aprilia	2 Laps
/	Jack Miller	AUS	Ducati	10 Laps
/	Francesco Bagnaia	ITA	Ducati	13 Laps

MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	ITA	25
2	Marc Marquez	Honda	SPA	20
3	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	GBR	16
4	Alex Rins	Suzuki	SPA	13
5	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	ITA	11
6	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	ITA	10
7	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	SPA	9
8	Joan Mir	Suzuki	SPA	8
9	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	JPN	7
10	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	SPA	6
11	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	ITA	5
12	Pol Espargaro	KTM	SPA	4
13	Jorge Lorenzo	Honda	SPA	3
14	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	ITA	2
15	Johann Zarco	KTM	FRA	1
16	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	FRA	0
17	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	POR	0
18	Karel Abraham	Ducati	CZE	0
19	Tito Rabat	Ducati	SPA	0
20	Hafizh Syahrin	KTM	MAL	0
21	Bradley Smith	Aprilia	GBR	0
22	Jack Miller	Ducati	AUS	0
23	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	ITA	0

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Moto2

Flexbox HP 40’s Lorenzo Baldassarri had to fight off huge last lap pressure from the returning Tom Lüthi to take Moto2 victory at the VisitQatar Grand Prix, with the duel going down to the line. The Italian led from Lap 2 but had to withstand some serious pressure in the final sector of the last lap to hold off a swarming Lüthi, eventually taking the chequered flag just 0.026 clear of the Swiss rider. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Marcel Schrötter completed the podium from pole.

As the lights went out it was Xavi Vierge who took the holeshot from the middle of the front row of the grid, but a big crash behind drew focus early on Lap 1. Debutant Nicolo Bulega, Iker Lecuona and Jorge Navarro all crashed, before Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Marco Bezzechi then fell out of contention on his debut ride.

Back at the front, Baldassarri had blasted his way past Vierge on Lap Two before slowly but surely beginning to build up an advantage over the chasing pack. Despite taking the holeshot, Vierge then started to slip backwards, dropping from second to fifth inside four corners. Schrötter, Remy Gardner and Vierge’s EG 0,0 Marc VDS teammate Alex Marquez all made their way past.

Lüthi then got in on the act, fighting his way through to fifth place before setting back-to-back lap records around the Losail International Circuit to close in on Marquez and then get past him. The Kalex rider then sliced into third place past Australian Gardner with six laps to go, soon after setting up a grandstand finish by catching and passing teammate Schrötter with four laps on the clock.

The former MotoGP rider had 0.821 to pull in to catch Baldassarri at the front and with just a lap left, he had managed to cut that advantage down to nothing and was all over the rear of the Italian’s Kalex. Baldassarri was able to hold off off Lüthi’s charge for three quarters of the lap but the Swiss rider looked the favourite going into the final sector, applying huge pressure. It wasn’t enough, however, as Baldassarri’s defensive riding was enough to keep him at bay despite the fact the pair exited the final corner side-by-side – with Baldassarri holding on by just 0.026 to take the win.

Gardner initially stole third place from Schrötter on the final lap, but the German slipstreamed his way past the Australian to take the final step on the rostrum by two thousandths and complete a Dynovolt Intact GP double podium finish. Flexbox HP 40’s Augusto Fernandez came from row four of the grid to take fifth place, hugely impressive as he ended the race narrowly ahead of Sam Lowes.

Marquez eventually had to settle for seventh but was over two seconds clear of Sky Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini in a lonely eighth place. Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini was one of the rides of the day to take ninth on his Moto2 debut, fighting off Vierge, who eventually slipped down to tenth. Fabio Di Giannantonio took P11 as second rookie, ahead of a tougher race for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder.

A nail-biting start to a new era in Moto2 saw Baldassarri collect a commemorative first Triumph-powered race win trophy alongside his VisitQatar Grand Prix race winner prize. With a plethora of riders showing their potential this weekend, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll collect 25 points in Argentina.

Qatar Moto2 Race Results

Pos	Rider	Nation	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	Kalex	39’56.109
2	Thomas Luthi	SWI	Kalex	+0.026
3	Marcel Schrotter	GER	Kalex	+2.123
4	Remy Gardner	AUS	Kalex	+2.125
5	Augusto Fernandez	SPA	Kalex	+2.305
6	Sam Lowes	GBR	Kalex	+3.334
7	Alex Marquez	SPA	Kalex	+5.018
8	Luca Marini	ITA	Kalex	+7.336
9	Enea Bastianini	ITA	Kalex	+12.949
10	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Kalex	+13.865
11	Fabio Di Giannantonio	ITA	Speed Up	+15.525
12	Brad Binder	RSA	KTM	+16.591
13	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Kalex	+18.667
14	Jesko Raffin	SWI	NTS	+18.916
15	Jorge Martin	SPA	KTM	+22.771
16	Bo Bendsneyder	NED	NTS	+22.822
17	Khairul Idham Pawi	MAL	Kalex	+23.978
18	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	MV Agusta	+26.904
19	Simone Corsi	ITA	Kalex	+27.030
20	Stefano Manzi	ITA	MV Agusta	+40.274
21	Lukas Tulovic	GER	KTM	+43.003
22	Joe Roberts	USA	KTM	+44.212
23	Philipp Oettl	GER	KTM	+47.657
24	Dimas Ekky Pratama	INA	Kalex	+57.596
25	Xavi Cardelus	AND	KTM	+1’18.749
26	Marco Bezzecchi	ITA	KTM	+1’35.817
Not Classified
/	Tetsuta Nagashima	JPN	Kalex	18 Laps
/	Jake Dixon	GBR	KTM	18 Laps
/	Somkiat Chantra	THA	Kalex	19 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
/	Jorge Navarro	SPA	Speed Up	0 Lap
/	Nicolo Bulega	ITA	Kalex	0 Lap
/	Iker Lecuona	SPA	KTM	0 Lap

Moto2 Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Lorenzo Baldassarri	Kalex	ITA	25
2	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	SWI	20
3	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	GER	16
4	Remy Gardner	Kalex	AUS	13
5	Augusto Fernandez	Kalex	SPA	11
6	Sam Lowes	Kalex	GBR	10
7	Alex Marquez	Kalex	SPA	9
8	Luca Marini	Kalex	ITA	8
9	Enea Bastianini	Kalex	ITA	7
10	Xavi Vierge	Kalex	SPA	6
11	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Speed Up	ITA	5
12	Brad Binder	KTM	RSA	4
13	Andrea Locatelli	Kalex	ITA	3
14	Jesko Raffin	NTS	SWI	2
15	Jorge Martin	KTM	SPA	1
16	Bo Bendsneyder	NTS	NED	0
17	Khairul Idham Pawi	Kalex	MAL	0
18	Dominique Aegerter	MV Agusta	SWI	0
19	Simone Corsi	Kalex	ITA	0
20	Stefano Manzi	MV Agusta	ITA	0
21	Lukas Tulovic	KTM	GER	0
22	Joe Roberts	KTM	USA	0
23	Philipp Oettl	KTM	GER	0
24	Dimas Ekky Pratama	Kalex	INA	0
25	Xavi Cardelus	KTM	AND	0
26	Marco Bezzecchi	KTM	ITA	0
27	Tetsuta Nagashima	/	JPN	0
28	Jake Dixon	/	GBR	0
29	Somkiat Chantra	/	THA	0
30	Jorge Navarro	/	SPA	0
31	Nicolo Bulega	/	ITA	0
32	Iker Lecuona	/	SPA	0

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Moto3

Kaito Toba became the first Japanese winner in Moto3 and the first in the lightweight class since Tomoyoshi Koyama took victory in the 125cc race at the 2007 Catalan GP after a stunning ride at the VisitQatar Grand Prix.

He’s also the first Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Champion to become a Grand Prix winner after duelling it out in style to the line against Lorenzo Dalla Porta, the man who just lost out, and polesitter Aron Canet, who completed the podium.

Toba started third on the grid but it was Canet who got the initial good launch to lead into Turn 1, with Toba slotting into P2 ahead of second on the grid Dalla Porta. There was drama on the opening lap further back though, with Jaume Masia, Tom Booth-Amos, Ayumu Sasaki and Makar Yurchenko crashing out of contention at Turn 6.

There was no drama further up, however, with Canet, Dalla Porta, Albert Arenas and Tony Arbolino getting an initial break in the lead before a front group of the top 19 started to form; just two seconds covering them in true Moto3 style.

The lead swapped and changed between several riders, with Toba forcing his way to the front on Lap 6. A 19-rider fight then became 16, Turn 6 the location again as another multiple rider crash occurred – this time it was Dennis Foggia, Kazuki Masaki and Tatsuki Suzuki who crashed out.

Niccolo Antonelli then had a turn at leading the freight train with 10 to go, before Romano Fenati took the baton off his compatriot to lead for the first time in Qatar. Nine laps remained.

The lead was changing lap by lap and any one of the top 15 were still in with a shout at the win. Then, with four laps to go, a major talking point of the race happened. Fenati seemed to misunderstand a track limits warning that appeared on his dashboard and the Italian then dived into the new ‘Long Lap Penalty’ area on the outside of Turn 6 to drop him from fourth to 12th. He wasn’t out of it though as the top 13 were covered by less than two seconds with just three laps to go.

By the final lap it was Toba who led once again and it soon became a three-way fight for the win between him, Canet and Dalla Porta. Coming into Turn 16, the Italian had the advantage but Toba timed the slipstream to perfection to just beat him to the chequered flag, taking the number 27 of childhood hero Casey Stoner back onto the top step. Dalla Porta was forced to settle for P2, with Canet coming home third.

Marcos Ramirez took P4, with Celestino Vietti crossing the line in fifth to get his rookie Moto3 season off to a great start as the top debutant. Arenas, a contender for the win throughout, beat reigning Junior Moto3 World Champion and teammate Raul Fernandez to the line by 0.028, making it 6th and 7th respectively for the duo.

2016 Qatar GP winner Antonelli was just 0.004 off Fernandez in P8, with Fenati salvaging P9 after looking odds on for at least a podium on his return. Jakub Kornfeil rounded out the top ten, less than a second from the win.

History made in Qatar, it’s next stop Argentina for the field – with Toba the first Championship leader of the season.

Qatar Moto3 Race Results

Pos	Rider	Nation	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Kaito Toba	JPN	Honda	38’08.887
2	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	ITA	Honda	+0.053
3	Aron Canet	SPA	KTM	+0.174
4	Marcos Ramirez	SPA	Honda	+0.505
5	Celestino Vietti	ITA	KTM	+0.584
6	Albert Arenas	SPA	KTM	+0.818
7	Raul Fernandez	SPA	KTM	+0.846
8	Niccolò Antonelli	ITA	Honda	+0.850
9	Romano Fenati	ITA	Honda	+0.890
10	Jakub Kornfeil	CZE	KTM	+0.903
11	Ai Ogura	JPN	Honda	+0.956
12	Alonso Lopez	SPA	Honda	+1.755
13	John Mcphee	GBR	Honda	+1.849
14	Andrea Migno	ITA	KTM	+3.450
15	Gabriel Rodrigo	ARG	Honda	+3.514
16	Tony Arbolino	ITA	Honda	+4.201
17	Vicente Perez	SPA	KTM	+4.267
18	Can Oncu	TUR	KTM	+26.272
19	Kazuki Masaki	JPN	KTM	+31.779
20	Ryusei Yamanaka	JPN	Honda	+31.820
21	Filip Salac	CZE	KTM	+31.943
22	Riccardo Rossi	ITA	Honda	+31.979
23	Makar Yurchenko	KAZ	KTM	+1’23.259
24	Tom Booth-Amos	GBR	KTM	3 Laps
Not Classified
/	Tatsuki Suzuki	JPN	Honda	14 Laps
/	Dennis Foggia	ITA	KTM	14 Laps
/	Darryn Binder	RSA	KTM	17 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
/	Ayumu Sasaki	JPN	Honda	0 Lap
/	Jaume Masia	SPA	KTM	0 Lap

Moto3 Championship Standings

Pos	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Kaito Toba	Honda	JPN	25
2	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	ITA	20
3	Aron Canet	KTM	SPA	16
4	Marcos Ramirez	Honda	SPA	13
5	Celestino Vietti	KTM	ITA	11
6	Albert Arenas	KTM	SPA	10
7	Raul Fernandez	KTM	SPA	9
8	Niccolò Antonelli	Honda	ITA	8
9	Romano Fenati	Honda	ITA	7
10	Jakub Kornfeil	KTM	CZE	6
11	Ai Ogura	Honda	JPN	5
12	Alonso Lopez	Honda	SPA	4
13	John Mcphee	Honda	GBR	3
14	Andrea Migno	KTM	ITA	2
15	Gabriel Rodrigo	Honda	ARG	1
16	Tony Arbolino	Honda	ITA	0
17	Vicente Perez	KTM	SPA	0
18	Can Oncu	KTM	TUR	0
19	Kazuki Masaki	KTM	JPN	0
20	Ryusei Yamanaka	Honda	JPN	0
21	Filip Salac	KTM	CZE	0
22	Riccardo Rossi	Honda	ITA	0
23	Makar Yurchenko	KTM	KAZ	0
24	Tom Booth-Amos	KTM	GBR	0
25	Tatsuki Suzuki	/	JPN	0
26	Dennis Foggia	/	ITA	0
27	Darryn Binder	/	RSA	0
28	Ayumu Sasaki	/	JPN	0
29	Jaume Masia	/	SPA	0

Source: MCNews.com.au