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Marquez at the Gp of Qatar

Marquez starts his 2018 campaign with a brilliant podium in Qatar, Pedrosa fights hard but has to settle for 7th

As night fell in Qatar, Marc Marquez climbed to the second step of the podium at the Losail International Circuit after fighting for victory all the way until the last corner.

 

Andrea Dovizioso just edged Marc out at the chequered flag by a mere 0.027” but the reigning World Champion will fly back to Europe tomorrow knowing that he’s shown great pace and scored a brilliant result at a track that is notoriously tough for him and the Repsol Honda Team.

Dani Pedrosa at the Gp of Qatar

A group of seven riders, split by just over one second, fought for a podium position for almost the entire race. Dani Pedrosa was among that group, although a poor feeling with the rear tyre forced him to settle for seventh.

marc-marquez-2018Marc Marquez

2ND 

“What a race! I’m really happy with our second place finish because this is one of the tracks on the calendar where we struggle most. After the pre-season test we knew what we could expect. With the hard front tyre I was struggling a bit in the left corners but with the medium I wouldn’t have finished the race. I tried to pass Dovi in the last corner but he beat me. Honestly, I was expecting that, but I had to try the move anyway, to see if there was any way we could make it happen. In the end, Dovi had something more than me and he deserves this win. Even if he was a bit behind at the start, I was waiting for him–I was waiting for the red! I knew his tactic was to push at the end and when he passed Zarco I said to myself, ‘let’s go!’ I followed him and almost went wide, but it was a great race and a great show. The thing I’m most happy about is that, this time, we were able to stay with him on the straight and this is very good.”

Dani Pedrosa

7TH 

“In general, the bike worked well enough and I’m happy because we were able to improve our feeling over the weekend. The hard front tyre was actually a very good choice as I could brake hard into the corners and keep a decent pace. We focused a lot on the feeling from the front over the weekend and finally decided to go with what we’d worked toward. I had a good start and I’m happy with how I managed the first corners. Unfortunately, the feeling from the rear wasn’t as strong. The tyre was spinning a lot, which caused me to loose ground in turn 3 and some other corners in sector four. It’s a real shame because the first race is important and if I think that if didn’t have this issue I could’ve fought for the podium. In the end, that gives me confidence for the upcoming races.”

2018 Qatar MotoGP Results

1 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA 25 Ducati Team 42’34.654
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA 20 Repsol Honda Team 0.027
3 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA 16 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 0.797
4 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR 13 LCR Honda 2.881
5 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA 11 Alma Pramac Racing 3.821
6 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA 10 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 3.888
7 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA 9 Repsol Honda Team 4.621
8 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA 8 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 7.112
9 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA 7 Team Suzuki Ecstar 12.957
10 MILLER Jack 43 AUS 6 Alma Pramac Racing 14.594
11 RABAT Tito 53 SPA 5 Reale Avintia Racing 15.181
12 MORBIDELLI Franco 21 ITA 4 EG 0,0 Marc VDS 16.274
13 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA 3 Angel Nieto Team 19.788
14 SYAHRIN Hafizh 55 MAL 2 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 20.299
15 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE 1 Angel Nieto Team 23.287
16 LUTHI Tom 12 SWI 0 EG 0,0 Marc VDS 24.189
17 NAKAGAMI Takaaki 30 JPN 0 LCR Honda 24.554
18 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR 0 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 31.704
19 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA 0 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 34.712
20 REDDING Scott 45 GBR 0 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 37.641
21 SIMEON Xavier 10 BEL 0 Reale Avintia Racing 46.706
22 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA 0 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 7 laps
23 RINS Alex 42 SPA 0 Team Suzuki Ecstar 10 laps
24 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA 0 Ducati Team 10 laps

 

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Emanuele Venturoli
Emanuele Venturoli
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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