MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 1 / MARCH 26, 2017
LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / DOHA, QATAR
P56
When Iannone crashed out
on lap 11, Dovi was 1.2 seconds
clear, but Vinales had closed up
to the back of Marquez. A lap
later both he and Rossi were
a second adrift, Rossi following
along, having survived a big first-
corner collision with Dovizioso;
Pedrosa losing touch behind the
Yamahas.
Moto2 Champion had qualified a
surprise fourth, and took a flier of
the second row of the grid to lead
into the first corner, pursued by
Marquez, Iannone and Dovizioso,
with Vinales and Pedrosa soon
seeming to drop away.
Zarco did the opposite, pulling
steadily clear until by lap six his
lead was better than 1.5 sec-
onds. Sadly he didn't finish lap
seven, slipping off and sliding
terminally into the gravel. "On
the sixth lap, I decided to relax,
and maybe I went off the rac-
ing line a little," he said. "It's a
shame, but this kind of mistake
is part of my lesson as a rookie."
By now Dovizioso was head-
ing the pursuit, and strongly
engaged with Marquez and
Iannone. Vinales was more than
Aleix Espargaro had one
of his best-ever MotoGP
races to take a stellar
sixth for Aprilia.
Marc Marquez's late switch
to a soft front tire proved to
be the wrong gamble.
