Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 / MARCH 18, 2018 LOSAIL INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / DOHA, QATAR P82 Furthermore, several rid- ers had been complaining of inconsistent tire performance all weekend. In the race, Zarco, Dani Pedrosa and Jack Miller all had front-tire problems. But, as Marquez added, "A lot of riders were fast here and in the pre-season…but it is always the same people at the front." The top three were, of course, full of the joys. For Dovi: "I'm really happy, because we confirmed Ducati's hard It was a very close race. At half-distance, pole-starter and long-time leader Johan Zarco (Monster Yamaha) was heading an eight-bike pack—Marquez, Dovi, Rossi, Crutchlow, Petruc- ci, Rins, Pedrosa—all covered by just over 1.2 seconds. But what it means for the rest of the season was not clear. The top riders all agreed with Dovi who pointed out that the early pace was relatively slow— everyone was saving tires—and Qatar is a rather peculiar track. MOST BALANCED A 10-year-old record, the last survivor from the era of soft qualifying tires, went flying in an explosive first qualify- ing session of the year, with three riders inside the time, and two of them not even on factory teams. And the best, Johan Zarco, was on a two-year- old non-factory bike. Qatar's front row saw Zarco's two-year-old Yamaha M1 outclass Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) and Pramac rider Danilo Petrucci (Ducati GP18), all inside the 10-year-old "best lap" time set on one- lap qualifying tires by Jorge Lorenzo in 2008. Zarco also effectively humili- ated the factory Movistar Yamaha rid- ers, with Valentino Rossi eighth, in the middle of row three; Maverick Vinales 12th, the slowest rider in the elite Q2 session, having had to fight his way through from Q1. With the top 11 within one second at the relatively long 3.34-mile desert circuit, a replication of ultra-close times in testing promised a close season to come, with top rid- ers predicting fierce competition with plenty of variety. Rossi said, "I think this is the most balanced of all sea- sons. There are eight, or nine, or 10 riders who could win races, including maybe Crutchlow and Petrucci." GET YOUR WINGS ON (OR NOT) There was no consensus on aero bodywork at Qatar, where the loss of top speed to downforce wings costs a lot on the long straight. Usual wing fan Jorge Lorenzo left his behind in the pit, while teammate Dovizioso ran wingless as usual. But Pramac Ducati's pair were different, Petrucci running without, but Jack Miller prefer- ring the full add-on set. The factory Hondas of Marquez and Pedrosa Briefly... Andrea Dovizioso (04) leads Marc Marquez (93) and Valentino Rossi (46) en route to a thrilling win at the MotoGP opener in Qatar.