MOTOGP
2016 MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / MARCH 20, 2016
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / DOHA, QATAR
P42
said Lorenzo.
Iannone and Dovizioso had
swapped a couple of times be-
fore the younger rider hit a dirty
patch of the desert circuit and
slithered off.
"I decided to pass Dovizioso
halfway 'round the lap to open a
gap to avoid him overtaking on
the straight," Lorenzo continued.
"This was the key. This was one
of the best three races of my
career."
race simulations on the new
tires, but the heat of battle is
rather different.
The early laps seemed to
favor the Ducatis, with enough
straight-line speed to gap any
challengers who might catch up
elsewhere on the circuit. But it
was not quite how it appeared
with all somewhat cautious at
first.
"When the Ducatis were lead-
ing, the pace was not so high,"
the cream rose to the top in the
usual way.
Fifth-place Dani Pedrosa, on
the Repsol Honda, was almost
15 seconds adrift, busy for much
of the race fending off Maverick
Vinales on the massively im-
proved Ecstar Suzuki; they were,
in turn, four seconds clear of the
next quartet.
In spite of the testing, it was
something of a leap into the
unknown for all. Some had done
Andrea Iannone
was his usual
maniac self in the
early stages but
dropped the model
while in second
place.
