MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
MOTOGP
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
E
verything is different in
Qatar, and not just the
darkness of MotoGP's
only night-time race. The desert
setting, the empty grandstands,
the city of Doha itself.
It's a reliably weird start to the
Grand Prix season.
This year was no exception,
with not a single Spanish rider
on the rostrum in all three class-
es. But one of the differences
was something that is, amaz-
ingly, just the same. Immutably
unchangeable.
Valentino Rossi was invincible.
After all these years.
This was not as expected,
after the Movistar Yamaha rider
had struggled in practice, quali-
fying only eighth. Of course it
was the Repsol Hondas up front,
with (unusually) Dani Pedrosa
ahead of Marc Marquez.
But the unexpected had
prevailed here as well. The
threat of improvement from the
ROUND 1/MARCH 29, 2015
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT/LOSAIL QATAR
P48
ROSSI
VALENTINO ROSSI TOPS AN ALL-ITALIAN PODIUM
AT THE MOTOGP SEASON OPENER IN QATAR
