Dovizioso pips Marquez in Qatar

Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) took an incredible victory in the 2019 Qatar Grand Prix, defeating world champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha) in a blanket finish – the top five separated by just 0.6 seconds.

Aussie Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Ducati) was a retirement after having to slow – and then retire – with an extremely unlikely problem: an issue with the sponge on his factory Ducati’s seat.

Meanwhile, it was a repeat of Dovizioso’s victory in Qatar last year, and his 12th in Ducati colours.

"I'm super happy about this win, especially because after the tests I wouldn't have expected to be so fast,” said the Italian world No. 2. “We stayed focused and we made progress in each session. Our strategy in the race was simply to preserve the tyre, and this made the difference, but it wasn't easy because I led for most of the race and I couldn't really study my opponents.

“Marquez gave it everything he could, as usual, and pushed me to the limit. We made the most of our strenghths, that is, acceleration and top speed, but we still need to improve our corner speed.

“This year there are plenty of quick riders and it'll be crucial not to lose too many points on less favorable tracks. We need to keep our feet on the ground and continue working in this direction."

There was drama before the lights went Losail as fifth place qualifier Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha STR) stalled his bike as they pulled off for the warm up lap, the rookie having to start from pitlane.

It was Dovizioso who got the launch off the line with the new ‘holeshot’ device working to full effect as both he and Miller were the early front-runners. Marquez held position in P3 with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha) not getting the start he would have been aiming for from pole – first to sixth on the opening lap, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and teammate Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) getting themselves into the top five.

There was more drama on the second lap as Miller seemed to have an issue in the final sector – the start of the sponge ‘rot’ setting in.

The race then settled into a rhythm, with Dovi controlling a steady pace at the front as tyre management started coming into play. Rins was the man on the move on as the Spaniard made a sharp start from 10th on the grid, the Suzuki man coming through to take the lead on lap five. Dovi and Rins then exchanged positions on numerous occasions for several laps, the Suzuki passing the Ducati in the middle of the lap before Dovi used the Ducati grunt to power back past on the start/finish straight – a lead group of nine following each other line astern as we looked set for an epic desert duel.

On lap 12, with Dovi back at the front, the pace then turned up a notch as Dovi and Marquez started to create a gap back to third place Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati). However, the pace then slowed again to bring the top eight back to just over a second.

With seven to go, the top eight were covered 1.2 seconds as Rossi started to make up ground, picking off his teammate and Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) to go up to sixth. With three laps to go the fight for the win became a five-way scrap, with Petrucci, Viñales and Mir losing touch.

And so, heading into the last lap, Dovi powered past Marquez into turn one after the reigning world champion had got the better of his rival on the penultimate lap, with Crutchlow third from Rins and Rossi.

Pushing hard, Marquez had a slight moment with the front at turn three before making a lunge up the inside of Dovi at turn 10, but the Desmosedici was able to cut back up the inside on the exit.

A carbon copy of 12 months ago then played out at the final corner, with Marquez diving through, sitting up Dovi, running wide, with the latter being able to get the drive and power past the Honda on the exit to edge the number 93 to the line by 0.023 seconds. Behind, Crutchlow kept his cool to take a remarkable podium on his first race back since his huge 2018 Australian GP crash, with Rins a valiant fourth and Rossi again proving you should never count ‘The Doctor’ out in fifth from 14th on the grid.

Petrucci would have to settle for sixth on his maiden factory Ducati ride, with Viñales crossing the line in seventh from Mir in a brilliant rookie ride, Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was 11th on his debut ride for Yamaha, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda), Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the point scoring positions.

Miller was left to rue what could have been. He said: “It’s a real shame because we went very fast through the whole weekend and I was convinced that I could stay with the leading group until the end.

“Unfortunately, after the problem with the seat, I couldn’t control the bike in the corners and it was impossible to keep on. All things considered, the feeling is still positive and I can’t wait to be in Argentina.”

MotoGP top 10
1. Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati)
2. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.023
3. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.320
4. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.457
5. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.600
6. Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) + 2.320
7. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 2.481
8. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 5.088
9. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 7.406
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 9.636

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Lorenzo Baldassarri had to fight off huge last lap pressure from the returning Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) to take the Moto2 victory in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Aussie Remy Gardner stole third place from Marcel Schrötter on the final lap, but the German slipstreamed his way past the Australian to take the final step on the box by 0.002 seconds!

“It is a big disappointment that we couldn’t get to the podium,” said Gardner. “I feel like I should have been more aggressive at the beginning of the race but I didn’t want to risk a big mistake.

“Unfortunately, we got beaten to the line by Schrotter. We miss straight-line speed and this is what ultimately costed us the podium today. I am already looking forward to Argentina.”

Moto2 top 10
1. Lorenzo Baldassarri
2. Tom Lüthi +0.026
3. Marcel Schrötter +2.123
4. Remy Gardner +2.125
5. Augusto Fernández  +2.305
6. Sam Lowes +3.334
7. Álex Márquez +5.018
8. Luca Marini +7.336
9. Enea Bastianini +12.949
10. Xavi Vierge +13.865