We are ready, for the opening race of MotoGP 2016. Watch for Marc Marquez on the Honda, and Maverick Vinales on the Suzuki. Andrea Ianonne and Andrea Dovizioso, will be ones to watch. Rumors have been spread like wildfire about riders, especially with Valentino Rossi, signing a recent new contract. Bradley Smith will have a new deal next year, with KTM. Hector Barbera doesn't have a specific tire strategy. Barbera has his best qualifying run since 2012. It's been a tough time for Cal Crutchlow lately. He debuted in Grand Prix racing here, in 2011. He will be a dad, in August.
Lots of support in Qatar, for British riders. Scott Redding, Bradley Smith, and Cal Crutchlow, are those riders. Jorge Lorenzo is on pole. The defending MotoGP champion, will be looking for glory today, as we commence this 22 lap race, soon. Lorenzo has not defended the championship successfully. Watch the Aspar Ducati's of Yonny Hernandez and Eugene Laverty as well. The Irishman had a great qualifying effort, in 14th. He equaled his effort from the Argentina race last year. Valentino Rossi's tires are a bit of a concern. The crew was upping the temperature on the tire warmer, as he chose a harder compound rear tire.
Alvaro Bautista has had some tough times on the new Aprilia. The bike at least has to finish a race. Watch for Tito Rabat, making his MotoGP debut. Jack Miller, and Stefan Bradl are also notables. Bradl has not had the best weekend either. Many riders, with the new Michelin tires, they are not sure what compounds to use, until the race start. In the past, with the old Bridgestone tires, the decision would be made on the Friday of the weekend. We are five minutes away, from the start, of the 2016 MotoGP season, right here, on 2 Wheelin'. Stay tuned, for an exciting race.
Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, Honda, Aprilia, KTM. They are all here. #LetBattleCommence. 20 motorcycles will start this race. 20 of the best bikes and best riders in the world. Racing is about to begin, as the bikes are on their warmup lap. This race will be a real journey into the unknown with the new tires. We are ready to roll as the floodlights pierce the night sky in Qatar. Rossi will race for at least three more seasons. The youngest rider in the series, Maverick Vinales, on the Suzuki, is on the front row. 22 laps scheduled.
Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen. Get ready for the ride of a lifetime. MotoGP 2016, is underway! Jorge Lorenzo makes a great start as Marc Marquez has a slower getaway. Marquez is getting swamped by the rest of the field as Andrea Ianonne moves into second, just behind Jorge Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa moves up to third spot. We've got a bike really wide out in no man's land there somewhere. It is an Aprilia. Not sure which rider. It could be either Stefan Bradl, or Alvaro Bautista. Difficult to tell.
Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannonne, and Andrea Dovizioso, are the top three. Just what was predicted. Marc Marquez has had a horrid start, and Dani Pedrosa has done much better. Maverick Vinales is down to seventh on the Suzuki. Maverick Vinales will have to make up ground. Now, Ianonne is closing on Lorenzo, through the triple right hand corner at turn 13. Marc Marquez leads team mate Dani Pedrosa. This scrum, is for fifth and sixth. Lorenzo will get blitzed by Ianonne! Ianonne leads! Lorenzo fights back, and runs wide.
These blokes are running 349 kilometers an hour! Folks, that's 218 miles an hour, on a motorcycle! Amazing stuff! Lorenzo wants by Dovizioso. Maverick Vinales needs to pass Dani Pedrosa ASAP. Lorenzo can't get into the slipstream of the Ducati, to try and go by. It's a Ducati 1-2. Lorenzo was the meat in the sandwich. Lorenzo will now have to take real risks to make up time. Rossi and Marquez are going for it as well. Valentino Rossi has Marc Marquez coming for him. Lorenzo, Rossi, and Marquez, are on the harder option Michelin tire.
Andrea Ianonne, sets fastest lap of the race so far at 1:56.181. Ducati, wants this one, bad. They have not won a MotoGP race in six long years, since 2010. Marc Marquez is right behind Valentino Rossi, and coming next are Maverick Vinales on the Suzuki, and Marquez's Honda team mate, Dani Pedrosa. Through turn six they come. This is the slowest corner on the Losail International Circuit, here in Qatar. Marquez passes Rossi, and makes the pass fair and square. The Marquez/Rossi war, resumes.
Ianonne continues to lead. Jorge Lorenzo is third. Maverick Vinales has lost time after a bad start. New fast lap, from Marquez. 1:55.710. Hector Barbera hangs on to Cal Crutchlow in ninth spot. Lorenzo tries Andrea Dovizioso. No dice. Valentino Rossi seems content to stay in fifth right now. Cal Crutchlow is moving ahead of Hector Barbera. Marc Marquez has made a pass on one Yamaha, and now, tries to pass the other. Ianonne and Dovizioso still lead for Ducati. But, they have not increased their gaps too greatly as of yet.
Marquez begins to pressure Lorenzo. He's right on your tail, sir. Ianonne has dropped his fast lap to a 1:55.632. He's getting quicker and quicker. If anyone wants to win this thing, they are going to need lots of distance between themselves and the Ducati's. Maverick Vinales does not quite have the horsepower in his Suzuki, to move past the Honda of Dani Pedrosa, either on the straightaway, or, in the corners for that matter. Andrea Ianonne leads Andrea Dovizioso. Marc Marquez, in all the practice sessions, only had an issue in the final sector on the track, speed wise.
How will the new Michelin tires behave? All three tire combinations have worked. But this is the first real battle. Rossi has gapped Dani Pedrosa quite a bit. Andre Dovizioso gets the lead, on lap five, as he also leans in and just touches Dovizioso! Ooh! That was close. They don't called Andrea Ianonne "the maniac" for nothing. New fast lap by Dovizioso, and he runs a 1:55.498. Ianonne wants to win his first MotoGP race. Dovizioso wants it back, and takes it back, on the inside! Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez realize what the Ducati blokes are doing at the front and want a piece of this action as well.
Lorenzo tries to ride inside Ianonne. Oh dear! Ianonne pushed too hard! He's down, and has crashed out of second spot! Andrea Ianonne... why? He was pushing far too hard. So now, one Ducati, and one Andrea, in this race. There's a dead fish out there. Release the sharks. They smell blood now. Remember, Andrea Dovizioso has one win in MotoGP. But, it was not on a Ducati bike. A battle ensues between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi. Watch out for the back half of the top ten, too. Cal Crutchlow, Hector Barbera, and Bradley Smith, will absolutely be flying. Pol Espargaro is also back there.
Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, and Jorge Lorenzo are all on the hard option front Michelin. Oh dear. It's game over for Cal Crutchlow. He too, has crashed. Lorenzo is charging. He wants by Andrea Dovizoso, as we work lap six. These boys are indeed riding cautiously. There's no question. Maverick Vinales is still having to work on Dani Pedrosa, to try and get by. Dani Pedrosa is very good at conserving and protecting tires. It might not matter, that MotoGP has now switched tire brands from Bridgestone to Michelin. Rossi is 1.8 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, and is a couple tenths quicker overall on the previous lap.
Pol Espargaro has passed his team mate Bradley Smith, for eighth spot, on his Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha. Scott Redding now runs tenth. Can Andrea Dovizioso get a win? When he won in 2010, he was actually racing for Repsol Honda, the team that Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa now ride for. Now, we have a real dust up, as Jorge Lorenzo takes the lead from Andrea Dovizioso, momentarily. Now, it's official. On lap eight, Lorenzo takes the lead here in Qatar. Loris Baz has crashed out of this race. For another rider, it's game over indeed.
Dani Pedrosa and Maverick Vinales are chasing down this lead quartet of Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Marquez, and Rossi. A Ducati and a Honda, in the middle of a Yamaha sandwich. Maverick Vinales on the Suzuki is losing ground to Pedrosa as we speak. Marquez and Rossi haven't pulled the pin yet. But, just wait. They'll be at the sharp end soon. Another new wrinkle for this year, is that the riders will be more involved in controlling the motorcycle. All the software for electronic rider aids, has been banned and disconnected from these motorcycles. It is more in the rider's hands now, and how they know what to do, with their bike.
Andrea Dovizioso is right behind Jorge Lorenzo. The top four are going to battle it out, unless Dani Pedrosa can make inroads. Once again, contenders like Andrea Ianonne and Cal Crutchlow have crashed out. Keep an eye on Marc Marquez, because at the end of the fourth practice, the night before the race, everyone was talking about Marquez's stunning pace, on worn tires. A new wrinkle in MotoGP's online feed for this year, is a distance gauge, between two motorcycles and their riders, measured in meters. Pretty snazzy device. Riders are sussing each other out and also sussing out tire behavior.
Twelve laps left. Jorge Lorenzo still leads. He's running on a hard front and soft rear tire. Dani Pedrosa and Maverick Vinales will have to settle for the back half of the top six, and won't see the podium today. Marc Marquez says he will need to be more patient. No deviation in lap times. Everyone is running in the 1:55 bracket. This is like a Moto3 race, where someone will wait until the last couple laps, to make a decisive move. Lorenzo has a more finessed riding style. Lorenzo resets fast lap, just as yours truly describes his riding style. 1:55.375.
These next laps are going to be interesting. Will Lorenzo force the issue on the opposition and the new Michelin tires? Maverick Vinales cannot get by Dani Pedrosa. But, Pol Espargaro has indeed passed Hector Barbera for seventh. Pol Espargaro is running well. Barbera, is riding a three year old Ducati. It is a 2014 model. Scott Redding runs tenth on the Pramac Ducati. His team mate, Danilo Petrucci, is not in this race, as his hand, is healing. Andrea Dovizioso, is right behind Jorge Lorenzo. Game over for Stefan Bradl. He's crashed his factory Aprilia out of 16th spot. He did so at turn 15.
Valentino Rossi is losing ground to the top three. The final three riders eligible to score points in this race (points are awarded to the top 15), are Jack Miller, Alvaro Bautista, and, Tito Rabat, on his debut as a MotoGP rider. Eugene Laverty has taken 12th spot away from Jack Miller. Nine laps left to race. Valentino Rossi has been riding consistently, in fourth. He has not made a move on anyone in the race so far, after picking up one position, at the start. Marc Marquez has the exact same tire combination as Rossi does.
Lorenzo is opening a gap at the front. New fastest lap of the race. Rossi turns a 1:55.281. Dovizioso is the only rider on the softer tire at the front. Therefore, Lorenzo, Marquez, and Rossi, will have better braking stability into the corners. Marc Marquez can't get close enough to Andrea Dovizioso to make a pass into the first turn. This is the first of three races in four weeks. Jorge Lorenzo has put on a masterful display in today's race. Once he's in a rhythm, he is faultless. Lorenzo resets fast lap at 1:55.109. Michelin should be happy, as the pace is hot, and yet steady, through this race.
Lorenzo wants his third MotoGP victory in Qatar. He has a 125cc win, and a couple in the 250cc class as well. Stefan Bradl is OK after his spill, and speaking of spills, a replay is shown of Loris Baz low siding his bike as well. Six laps left now. Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha is on rails. Valentino Rossi is going to finish fourth or so, after winning this race, last year. Does Marc Marquez risk it and catch Jorge Lorenzo? Or, does he stay content with finishing fourth? Valentino Rossi is being told where Dani Pedrosa is. Just when he might drop by the wayside, Rossi shows he can stay in the game. Bradley Smith has moved back to eighth after passing Hector Barbera.
The battle might be between Dovizioso and Marquez, for second spot. Lorenzo carries lots of speed into turn 11 as we have four laps left now. A monumental mistake from Lorenzo is the only way for Dovizioso or Marquez to catch him. Valentino Rossi runs wide at turn six. Marquez lines Dovizioso up, and he makes the pass! He's got to go now, if he is going to try and catch Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez has to pull the pin, now. Marquez set fast lap on the last lap of his practice simulation. Marc Marquez's only fear is Dovizioso thundering by him with the massive horsepower of the Ducati.
Marquez is late on the brakes, to hold Dovizioso at bay. The gap is one second. Three laps to go now. Marquez runs wide at turn six and Andrea Dovizioso is starting to go after Marquez. Marquez is probably too late to catch Lorenzo, as Lorenzo is 1.4 seconds ahead. Valentino Rossi is catching Andrea Dovizioso. So, another Yamaha, could eat up the Ducati, if Dovizioso doesn't pour on the steam. Two laps now remain in the opening MotoGP race of 2016. Lorenzo runs a 1:54.927 on lap 20. It's going to take a mistake for it to be game over for Lorenzo.
Rossi is closing on Dovizioso, and fast. Rossi has closed right up on Dovizioso. Lorenzo is riding off into the distance. He has 1.9 seconds in hand. Rossi wants a podium. But, there's no way Dovizioso is going to give up. It's the last lap. Dovizioso passes Marquez, and here's Rossi for the final podium spot! The Honda and the Yamaha are not close enough, and even if they are, they aren't going to be close enough to get by the Ducati. Dovizioso is looking good for second if he does not let Marquez pounce. Lorenzo has whistled off into the distance. Lorenzo is going to win.
Marc Marquez tries Dovizioso for second, and almost gets there! But, Dovizioso says, "no way, sunshine", and steals the spot right back. Lorenzo wins it!
#99 Jorge Lorenzo ESP. Yamaha
New tires, and new electronics. But, the same story. Great ride by Lorenzo and by Dovizioso. Bitterly disappointed, has to be Valentino Rossi. Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi both get valuable season points for the championship. Andrea Dovizioso gets second place in Qatar. Tito Rabat, finishes in 15th, and picks up a single point, in his MotoGP debut. It'll be tough for anyone to beat Jorge Lorenzo in 2016.
The next MotoGP race is in Argentina at Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo, in two weeks. Stay tuned, for a full race report.
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