MotoGP Qatar: Rossi wins enthralling season-opener

Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday after besting Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso on the penultimate

Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso\'s furious battle for victory at the Qatar Grand Prix kicked off the MotoGP season in grand fashion but it remains to be seen if Ducati\'s new challenger will be up to holding off the mighty Hondas and besting Yamaha later on in the season. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Valentino Rossi went one better than his fighting second place finish at last year\'s Qatar Grand Prix by taking the win amid unlikely opposition from the factory Ducati team. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Andrea Dovizioso had a ferocious battle with race winner Rossi en route to second place. The Ducati had the straight-line speed edge over the Yamaha although under cornering it was Rossi who made his advantage count. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Away from the intense battle for the race win between Yamaha and Ducati, Honda and defending double world champion Marc Marquez had a low-key ride to fifth place although the Spaniard did clock a top speed in excess of 350 km/h. (PIC: Bridgestone Motorsport)

Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday after besting Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso on the penultimate lap of the race.

The race appeared to be a two-horse battle between pole sitter Dovizioso and Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who traded positions for majority of the race. Andrea Iannone was running not far behind in third but never posed a serious threat to the duo.

A charging Valentino Rosso soon joined the fray and passed Iannone and Lorenzo to mount a challenge on the race leader Andrea Dovizioso. The two riders went hammers and tong in the last five laps but the Italian managed to hold on to the lead, taking his 109th career victory in the process.

Iannoune eventually finished third after passing Lorenzo for the final spot of the podium while defending double world champion Marc Marquez could only manage a fifth place result under the floodlights. The Spaniard ran wide at turn one and had to fight his way back from last position in his Honda to finish ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Cal Crutchlow in the LCR Honda was seventh on the road ahead of the Tech 3 Yamahas of Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro.

The two Suzuki riders finished 11th and 13th respectively on the occasion of Japanese brand’s return to premier class of motorcycle racing.

MotoGP Qatar - Results(Top 10)

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 42:35.717
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +0.174
Andrea Iannone (Ducati) +2.250
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +2.707
Marc Marquez (Honda) +7.076
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +10.755
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +12.384
Bradley Smith (Yamaha Tech 3) +12.914
Pol Espargaro (Yamaha Tech 3) +13.031
Yonny Hernandez (Pramac Racing) +17.435

Moto2: Folger wins as Zarco gets hit by mechanical trouble

Jonas Folger made most of Johann Zarco’s mechanical troubles to take his first ever Moto2 victory at the Losail International Circuit on Sunday.

Zarco had established what looked a seemingly unassailable lead before mechanical troubles slowed down the Frenchman. He eventually finished down in eighth place.

Five seconds down on race winner Folger, Xavier took the chequered flag in second place with Thomas Luthi completed the podium despite best efforts of Alex Rins to overhaul the Swiss.

Moto3: Masbou victorious for Saxoprint in an enthralling race

If a driver wins from pole position in F1, it’s almost a given that he had an easy run from lights out to chequered flag. The same doesn’t ring true for Moto3, however, where pole sitter Alexis Masbou had to execute a last lap manoeuvre over Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini to take his second ever race victory in the class.

Bastianini had fought his way from the back of the grid and was on target to take the race win, before Masbou dashed his hopes when he made the move stick in the dash to the chequered flag from the final corner.