MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / MARCH 8-10, 2019
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / DOHA, QATAR
P68
Crutchlow until lap nine. It was only in
the later stages that he lost touch with
the leaders.
Rins led over the line for the first
time on lap eight, and for the next
two laps, and then it was Dovizioso
again until the penultimate lap, when
Marquez was in front over the line,
just once.
The pack stayed close until well af-
ter half distance. By the end, Vinales
recovered somewhat at the end to
get ahead of impressive rookie Mir,
who was fading by the end. Takaaki
Nakagami (LCR Honda) was back in
front of Franco Morbidelli (Petronas
Yamaha) at the end. Morbidelli was
fading fast by now, and on the last lap
lost 10th place to Aleix Espargaro's
Aprilia.
iii My Own Race:
9 DANILO PETRUCCI 6TH MOTOGP
"My sixth place is still positive because we scored important points for the cham-
pionship," Petrucci said. "Unfortunately, I was hindered by a less than optimal
start, but the race pace wasn't very fast and I was able to recover positions
quite quickly. Still, I struggled to pass other riders and push hard in braking. In
retrospect, choosing the soft tire for both the front and rear was a gamble, but we
expected the temperatures to drop further and we also weren't as fast as usual on
the straight."
99 JORGE LORENZO 13TH MOTOGP
"There are many positive things today even if where we finished is not what we
thought we could achieve," Lorenzo said. "I was very limited by the crash yester-
day, it was a very big impact everywhere and especially on my shoulder. It limited
everything. From then, I was always slower than at the start of the weekend.
I had some problems in the open-
ing laps and lost about three or four
seconds there. Without doubt we have
much more potential and if we're not
unlucky we can be stronger."
12 MAVERICK VINALES
7TH MOTOGP
"Obviously, we have to improve the bike," Vinales said. "When I'm alone I can do
really good lap times, even in the middle of the race I could ride 1:55s-lows on my
own, but as soon as I'm behind another rider I suffer this lack of grip on the rear,
and I couldn't attack and overtake. We have to improve, and so do I."
Pol Espargaro leads new
teammate Johann Zarco for
12th. It was a tough debut
for Zarco, who dropped to
15th at the flag.
