Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo has won a fantastic Doha Grand Prix after scything past the Ducati’s.
After two fantastic races in Moto2 and Moto3, it was time for the premier class to close out racing at Qatar. After two incredible races, the question on everyone’s lips was; could MotoGP follow it up?
Jorge Martin took an incredible pole on Saturday to start at the front in only his second ever race in the premier class. He was joined on the front row by the Champ top two, Johann Zarco and Maverick Viñales. Jack Miller was joined by Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia on the second row. Ducati are known for their holeshot device so it would be interesting to see whether they can control the field in the early stages.
The lights went out, and the duel in the desert was underway. Martin made a start from heaven to lead by a second by the end of the first sector. Miller and Bagnaia has horror starts to drop to eighth and eleventh. Aleix Espargaró put his Aprilia third at the end of lap 1.
Espargaró tried to briefly make his presence known, going into second before being relegated back to fourth. Alex Rins was a lingering shadow just behind the Pramac Ducati’s.
Rins took second for good just before the halfway stage, and set his sights on the leading Ducati of Martin just ahead. Power had the edge though, and Rins was down to third again. It was now four Ducati’s in the top five as Bagnaia and Miller were fourth and fifth.
Espargaró began to struggle. Rins had a mammoth moment and lost the front. Somehow he saved it but it was a warning that tyres were wearing down. . Lecuona and Marquez both crashed, but the world held its breath when Mir and Miller hit eachother in a straight line, narrowly missing a monumental crash. Despite all of this, Martin still lead.
Bagnaia ran wide, putting Quartararo into third position. He then took second from Zarco, and now it was his turn to try and take Martin, which he does only a few turns later.
Viñales tried hard to get on the podium, couldn’t quite make it. Rins seemed to have used the best of his tyres and was content with fifth as the penultimate lap began.
Now it was Pramac vs Pramac for second. Zarco tried to pass Martin, but time and again he couldn’t pass him, until turn 15. He dived up the inside, and took the position.
But the race was Quartararo’s. For the first time since 1954, two Frenchman were on the podium, with Jorge Martin in third. Johann Zarco was the new championship leader with 40 points thanks to his double second place, but the ride of the day was rookie Martin, who went from pole to third in only his second Grand Prix.
The record for closest top 15 was smashed too. After 22 laps of racing, only 8.9 seconds separated the top 15 at the flag. . The teams now recuperate for a weekend before the next battle of the giants at Portimaõ in two weeks time.
code
Copy and paste this code on your eligible site
thefootballforecast.com
