Races – Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Qatar GP (winner Dovizioso) –

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2018 MotoGP Qatar GP report and results (winner Dovizioso)

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Qatar GP (winner Dovizioso) -

Andrea Dovizioso won for the first time on the Losail circuit, ahead of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi. Johann Zarco, leading the 2018 Qatar Grand Prix from lap 1 to lap 17, finally finished in 8th place after more than seven seconds, victim of a flushed front tire.

As in 2017, Johann Zarco started the Grand Prix of Qatar on the hats of wheels: the French, author of a fantastic record pole position at Losail, has long set the pace for the first race of the season, to the point of have victory in sight with five laps to go…

  • Qatar GP – 
  • Qatar GP –  

But success was not on the side of the Tech3 rider: as Andrea Dovizioso sounded the charge after 17 laps led by the private Yamaha, Johann Zarco clearly appeared unable to resist him. Then it was Marquez and Rossi’s turn to overtake him in the wake of "Dovi", again without it being possible for Cannes to defend themselves.. 

Worse: Johann Zarco continued to lose ground on the leading men, giving up more positions as the finish line approached! It’s hard to put this down to a possible decline in physical fitness: the Tech3 rider is barely out of breath when getting off his motorcycle. 

  • Qatar GP: 
  • Qatar GP – 

On the other hand, n ° 5 immediately observed his front tire when he arrived at the Tech3 box: the cause of his sudden drop in pace was actually found in his front tire, in medium rubber, rinsed on the right side during the last part of the race. the race…

  • Qata GPr: 

 "It was a great race until the last five laps," said Johann Zarco. "I was happy to check the wear on my rear tire, because that was the aspect that worried me and the other riders. But I felt a problem on the right side of my front tire, that I had not met during the tests ".

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Qatar GP (Dovizioso winner) -

"I continued on my pace, hoping that my rivals would have the same problem up front, but when they passed me I realized that was not the case," he regrets. "I tried to force to stay in touch, but I finally let go after losing the front a few times. It’s racing, that kind of technical problem can happen."…

A perfect race for "DesmoDovi"

The big winner of this first race is Andrea Dovizioso, who takes his first MotoGP victory in Qatar. The Italian is as usual ramping up before starting a sprint with five laps to go. And as in 2017, "Dovi" wins after having foiled a final Marquez attack in the last corner. !

  • Qatar GP – Finish :

"It’s a perfect race, a perfect weekend", rejoices the n ° 4, a ninth moment of the race. "I saved my tires for the end of the race, and it paid off even if the last lap with Marc was complicated. Like every last lap in the fight with Marc! But I beat him, once again! "

Can we blame him for this self-congratulation? Certainly not: Dovi did indeed manage his end of the race perfectly, with a composure and talent that speaks volumes about his determination. The air of nothing, it is already the third time that he "mate" his rival Honda in the last corner, after the Grand Prix of Austria then of Japan last year !

Stainless Rossi

Valentino Rossi, eighth on the grid and third at the finish, also achieved a superb performance which confirmed his reputation as a racing beast. The Doctor immediately moved into the leading peloton, sticking for a long time to the Zarco Basques before losing two places by missing an attempt to overtake the French. 

In the end, the n ° 46 finished on the podium at the rank of first Yamaha rider, which was not necessarily won in view of his checkered tests. The nine-time world champion is ahead of Cal Crutchlow – very consistent from start to finish – and Danilo Petrucci, who unsurprisingly responded after his pace during practice. 

As for Maverick Viñales, he leaves Qatar with a spirit torn between satisfaction and regret … Should the Spaniard be delighted with his superb comeback, as he finished 6th after dropping to 18th rank? Or on the contrary to piss off not to appear on the podium of a race that he had totally dominated last year ?

Races - Report and results of the 2018 MotoGP Qatar GP (Dovizioso winner) -

"Mack" precedes Dani Pedrosa, Johann Zarco, Andrea Iannone and Jack Miller, who closes the Top 10 14.6 sec from the winner. Franco Morbidelli shines on his Honda Marc VDS: the reigning Moto2 world champion finished 12th 16.2 seconds behind the leader, ranking first Rookie.

The second rookie at the finish line is Johann Zarco’s teammate at Tech3, Hafizh Syarhin, who finished in 14th position, so in the points for his first MotoGP race. Not bad at all for a pilot who parachuted into the M1 Tech3 at the last minute to replace Jonas Folger !

Lorenzo on the mat

Tom Luthi and Takaaki Nakagami follow each other in 16th and 17th positions respectively for their first race, while the last rookie – the Belgian Xavier Simeon – finishes last in the Ducati Avintia. 

Finally, one of the noticeable poor performances of the race went to Jorge Lorenzo, who had made a mistake in the last third of the Grand Prix when he was in ninth place. The Mallorcan has never been able to equalize the level of performance of his teammate, whether in practice or in the race..

Lorenzo is unfortunately starting the season in Qatar as he finished in Valence last fall: on the ground … Hard for "Jorgueil", who must imperatively return to the forefront for his second year at Ducati.

2018 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix results and standings

  1. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 42’34.654
  2. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.027
  3. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.797
  4. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda +2.881
  5. 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati +3.821
  6. 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +3.888
  7. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +4.621
  8. 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +7.112
  9. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +12.957
  10. 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati +14.594
  11. 53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +15.181
  12. 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +16.274
  13. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati +19.788
  14. 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +20.299
  15. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati +23.287
  16. 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda +24.189
  17. 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +24.554
  18. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +31.704
  19. 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +34.712
  20. 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +37.641
  21. 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati +46.706

Not classified

  • 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM (7 laps)
  • 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki (10 laps)
  • 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati (10 laps)

Provisional classification of the MotoGP World Championship

  1. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati ITA (25 points)
  2. Marc MARQUEZ Honda SPA (20 points)
  3. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA (16 points)
  4. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda GBR (13 points)
  5. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati ITA (11 points)
  6. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha SPA (10 points)
  7. Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA (9 points)
  8. Johann ZARCO Yamaha FRA (8 points)
  9. Andrea IANNONE Suzuki ITA (7 points)
  10. Jack MILLER Ducati AUS (6 points)
  11. Tito RABAT Ducati SPA (5 points)
  12. Franco MORBIDELLI Honda ITA (4 points)
  13. Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati SPA (3 points)
  14. Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha MAL (2 points)
  15. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati CZE (1 point)
  16. Thomas LUTHI Honda SWI
  17. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda JPN
  18. Bradley SMITH KTM GBR
  19. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia SPA
  20. Scott REDDING Aprilia GBR
  21. Xavier SIMEON Ducati BEL
  22. Pol ESPARGARO KTM SPA
  23. Alex RINS Suzuki SPA
  24. Jorge LORENZO Ducati SPA

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