Larry Lawrence | March 20, 2016
Photo courtesy MotoGP.com
Jorge Lorenzo looked more like a machine than a man en route to his commanding victory in the 2016 season opening MotoGP race at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Starting from the pole Lorenzo put his factory Yamaha into the lead for good nine laps into the race and then turned in lap after solid lap to pull clear of the rest of the competition. Lorenzo’s margin of victory in the end 2.019 seconds over Ducati’s Andrea Iannone.
Honda’s Marc Marquez was third and Valentino Rossi fourth on the other factory Yamaha.
In many ways a journey into the unknown with the new Michelin tires being put to a race test for the first time. Even Lorenzo was nervous about his choices and made a last second change of his rear tire to a different compound before the start.
Lorenzo led into turn one for the first time with Iannone and Dovizioso trailing. The two Ducatis hit 217 mph as they passed the Yamaha of Lorenzo to take over the top two positions at the start of lap two with Iannone leading. Rossi and Marquez made up the rest of the leading pack of five, which found a small gap on Dani Pedrosa and Maverick Vinales in sixth and seventh.
On the third lap the Rossi-Marquez war resumed, with Marquez lunging up the inside of Rossi to take over fourth place.
It was obvious from the beginning of the race that the factory Ducatis were vastly superior on the Losail Circuit’s main straight. The Yamaha of Lorenzo could not even stay even in the draft, instead having to regain time in the corners.
On lap five the Iannone and Dovi got into a nice scrap for the lead, aggressively swapping the position. No sooner did that battle ensue when Iannone pushed a bit too hard into a right-hand sweeper, lost the front end and crashed. Seconds later Cal Crutchlow crashed out as well. Both riders appeared OK.
On lap nine it was Lorenzo moving back into the lead from Dovizioso. Marquez and Rossi were still right there in third and fourth.
Initially the top four made no moves, but then Lorenzo began inching away ever so gradually. He continued to do so every lap until by late in the race Lorenzo had built his lead up to 8-10ths of a second. That led Marquez to push to get past Dovizioso to give chase to the leader. Rossi had blown a turn a lap or so earlier to fall back slightly from the Marquez-Dovi battle.
In the end it was Lorenzo pulling clearly away and taking the win in defense of his 2015 MotoGP title. On the final corner Marquez made a last-turn stab and briefly took second, but Doviziso was able to cut back underneath to take back the position by the finish line. Rossi made up the ground he lost in the earlier mistake, but never threatened make a pass on either Dovi or Marquez.
Pedrosa finished a distant fifth, around 12 seconds behind the three-way battle for second. Vinales got a poor start from the front row and never recovered, finishing sixth. Pol Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Hector Barber and Scott Redding rounded out the top 10. A total of 15 riders finished the race.
It was announced that Bradley Smith will ride for the KTM MotoGP squad next season.
The series now moves to Argentina on April 3 before coming to Austin, Texas on April 10.
MotoGP results from the Losail Circuit in Qatar, March 20, 2016
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 167.1 42’28.452
2 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 167.0 +2.019
3 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 167.0 +2.287
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 167.0 +2.387
5 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.2 +14.083
6 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 166.1 +15.423
7 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.9 +18.629
8 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.9 +18.652
9 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 165.8 +21.160
10 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati 165.6 +24.435
11 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 164.8 +35.847
12 50 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 164.5 +41.756
13 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 164.4 +41.932
14 43 Jack MILLER AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 164.4 +41.982
15 53 Tito RABAT SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 163.6 +54.953
Not Classified
6 Stefan BRADL GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 163.5 11 Laps
76 Loris BAZ FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 164.0 14 Laps
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda Honda 165.0 16 Laps
29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ducati Team Ducati 165.7 17 Laps
68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 156.8 21 Laps
