MotoGP 2013 Qatar Report | Lorenzo Takes First Victory of the Season

Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha Factory Racing claimed an immaculate first place victory on Sunday at the Qatar MotoGP race at the Losail International Circuit. Despite battling nerves before the race started, Lorenzo took the hole-shot into turn one and quickly began putting a gap between himself and the other riders. Lorenzo remained untouchable for most of the race and eventually won by nearly six seconds, but the real excitement was happening behind him as teammate Valentino Rossi fought his way from seventh position to the front of the pack.

Rossi put on a great show, first battling with Ducati’s Andrea Dovisiozo, but making a small mistake along the way that cost him some time. After recovering from his mistake, he tussled with Cal Crutchlow who kept up with the factory bikes until he ran off-track trying to fend off Rossi’s pass for fourth; that put Crutchlow in fifth place where he stayed for the remainder of the race. Dani Pedrosa struggled with lack of rear grip, but remained in second position until he was passed by rookie Marc Marquez on lap sixteen and then later passed by Rossi on lap eighteen.

After Pedrosa was left behind, an epic battle between veteran Rossi and rookie Marquez ensued. The battle ended with Rossi taking second place and Marquez taking an impressive third place in his first MotoGP race.

“To tell the truth, I was pretty nervous on the grid, because it was my first MotoGP race,” said Marquez. “I don't think I've ever been so nervous before. I found it hard to keep calm and I wasn't as focused as in Moto2. However, I regained my concentration at the last moment. The start was important and we knew that we were taking off from the dirty part of the track. I didn't get off well, but I was able to attack on the opening laps and overtake many riders. I think that this was the key. When I rode behind Dani I learned a lot, also later on with Valentino. Fighting against him is always nice to watch, but it's always tough at the same time. Valentino was a tough rival to overtake on the final laps. He beat us this time, but we hope to learn from him and from everyone who went faster than us.”

2013 MotoGP Qatar Results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
3. Marc Marquez (Honda)
4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
5. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)
6. Alvaro Bautista (Honda)
7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati)
8. Nicky Hayden (Ducati)
9. Andrea Iannone (Ducati)
10. Ben Spies (Ducati)
11. Aleix Espargaro (Aspar)
12. Randy de Puniet (Aspar)
13. Hector Barbera (Avintia Blusens)
14. Yonny Hernandez (PBM)
15. Hiroshi Aoyama (Avintia Blusens)
16. Claudio Corti (Forward Racing)
17. Michael Laverty (PBM)
18. Lukas Pesek (Came IodaRacing)
DNF Colin Edwards (Forward Racing)
DNF Danilo Petrucci (Came IodaRacing)
DNF Stefan Bradl (Honda)
DNF Bradley Smith (Yamaha)
DNF Bryan Staring (Gresini Honda)
DNF Karel Abraham (Cardion AB)