By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: World champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain last night kicked off the new season with a commanding performance by winning the Grand Prix of Qatar under lights at Losail International Circuit.
The Yamaha giant - who grabbed the pole position on Saturday - yesterday produced a sublime ride to bag his third win in Qatar where he remains a hugely popular rider.
Lorenzo, who ended the 2015 season with a win, last night finished the 22-lap race ahead of Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) who started the intense battle from the sixth grid for the season’s opening race.
Lorenzo’s chief title threat Spain’s Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) secured the third spot while nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) managed an error-free ride to claim the fourth spot.
With Italy’s Ducati star Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) becoming one of four riders to crash out, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) grabbed the fifth spot.
Lorenzo clocked 42.28.452 for his 41st MotoGP win.
Dovizioso was just 2.019 seconds slower while Marcquez was 2.287 seconds off the pace set by Lorenzo.
Rossi, 37, was 2.2387 seconds behind Lorenzo.
“You know it was a tough decision to go for the rear tyre option. It was a risky option but I went for it,” Lorenzo said.
“My rivals went for hard tyre but I ran a good race. It was important to stay in front because this is the first race of the season. I am happy to be on the podium,” the 28-year-old said.
“Tonight we will just enjoy this win,” he said.
Dovizioso, 29, said: “When you have Marc finishing the race with you, it is always tough. We destroyed the tyre. I was able to go past him before the final corner.”
He added: “I knew the last stretch would be too long for him to catch up. I am glad the old feeling has come back. Our objective is to be very competitive in the new season. Obviously I am very happy.”
Third-placed Marcquez (Repsol Honda Team) said he was pleased with his first run in the 2016 season.
“I am happy,” Marquez said. “We lost some acceleration on the long straight but we are happy that we have got 16 points in the world championship battle.
“That’s very important,” the 23-year-old Spaniard said.
In Moto2, Swiss star Thomas Luthi surprised racing fans and experts by winning the first Grand Prix of the season ahead of compatriot Luis Salom after a number of false starts and crashes.
After pole winner Jonas Folger crashed out early in the race, Luis retained composure to guide Garage Plus Interwetten team to first win of the season under lights at Losail International Circuit.
Luthi, riding a Kalex bike, clocked a time of 40:14.297 to take the chequered flag.
Spain’s Luis Salom (SAG Team) settled for the second place because of a jump-start penalty slapped by the marshalls on several riders.
Luthi - who edged Franco Morbidelli to the finish line - prevailed in the dramatic opening race.
Italy’s Simon Corsi brought cheer in the Speed Up Racing camp by finishing in third spot some +9.665 seconds slower than Luthi.
Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) and Switzerland’s Dominique Aegerters (CarXpert Interwetten) completed the top-5.
Syahrin was 13.558 seconds behind whereas Aegerters finished 16.064 seconds slower to Luthi’s winning time.
“If I had known there was a time penalty I wouldn’t have pushed so hard,” Luthi joked at the end of the race. “I could have taken it easy,” he added with a smile.
“It is a great win after our struggle in the qualifying sessions,” he said. “It is a brilliant show, I would say. I only came to know about the penalty when I returned to the Parc Ferme.
“I am so so happy. Towards the end it was a real battle. He (Morbidelli) attacked and I attacked as well. It was a great race,” Luthi said.
Salom felt an ‘incredible’ adrenaline rush at the end.
“It was an incredible ride,” Salom said. “I was pushing and pushing,” the affable Italian said.
“I tried to enjoy the race as well. I pushed hard and enjoyed my race.
I dedicate this finish to my team and to may family. They support me a lot,” Salom said.
“It has been a difficult two years for us and now this. We have done well,” he said.
Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), Sam Lowes, Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team) and Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) were all handed ride through penalties for jumping the start.
Defending champion in Qatar, Folger continued to push at the front but the German quickly found he had exceeded the limit and fell at Turn 4, crashing out of a comfortable lead on the third lap.
“I was pushing really hard to make a gap, it would have been the last lap of pushing hard. It was my fault, I expected a lot more,” Folger said after returning to the pits.
When Folger crashed out, Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) grabbed the lead and battled hard with Luthi.
As Luthi surged ahead, Takaaki Nakagami and Robin Mulhauser (CarXpert Interwetten) were also handed ride through penalties for jumping the race start.
Despite the penalties, Morbidelli and Luthi battled for the lead but on the final lap it was announced that former would be handed a 20-second penalty after the race. Sandro Cortese was also given the same penalty.
Luthi edged Morbidelli to the finish but the Italian was pushed down to seventh because of the penalty.
Salom and Corsi completed the podium, both in their first races with new teams.
Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team) fell with five laps remaining, but remounted before retiring.
Earlier in Moto3, Nicolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) edged KTM rider Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to clinch the 22-lap race in a time of 38:12.161 to emerge as the season’s first champion.
Antonelli, who started the race from the 7th spot on the grid, overtook Binder near the finish line after the South African retained lead for most of the race in which all riders opted for the medium front and medium rear tyre options.
It was the third Grand Prix win for the 20-year-old who bagged a couple of victories last season.
The Italian winner, into his fifth year in Moto3, finished 0.007 seconds ahead of Binder who started the race from the sixth spot on the grid following a qualifying penalty imposed on the KTM rider.
Italy’s Francesca Bagnaia, riding for Mahindra, sealed the third spot on the podium. Bagnaia was just 0.148 seconds behind Antonelli.
Pole winner Romano Fenati - riding for SKY Racing Team VR46 - finished in fourth spot while Italy’s Enea Bastianini completed the top-5 on his Honda.
Fenati was 0.435 seconds behind Antonelli while Bastianini was 0.606 seconds slower.
After a predictable run in the 22-lap race, it all came down to the last lap when Binder remained in front. However it was all changed when Fenati ran wide at the first corner and dropped to sixth. As the corners ticked down, Antonelli tucked waited for his chance to strike.
The drag to the line was where it all happened as Antonelli played the race to perfection, pulling out of Binder’s slipstream to steal the race by 0.007s.
Binder’s seventh career podium is by far the South Africans best opening round.
Nicolo Bulega exhibited loads of courage to end sixth on his full time World Championship debut ahead of Jorge Navarro, Livio Loi, Philipp Oettl (Schedl GP Racing) and Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team).
The Peninsula
