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Qatar: Jorge wins, Rossi the hero

LOSAIL, Qatar - Awesome evening, beautiful track and the world's top motorcycle racers out for the first races of the 2013 MotoGP championships.

In the main MotoGP race it was Jorge Lorenzo for Yamaha right from the start as he charged off pole and kept on charging into the distance right to the end.

Behind him for most of the race was a battle between the Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and MotoGP newbie Marc Marquez - three Spaniards in a row - with Briton Cal Crutchlow hanging on like a terrier in fourth aboard another Yamaha. Behind them, and battling hard with five laps to go, was Valentino Rossi on yet another Yamaha.

ROSSI SHINES - EVENTUALLY

Rossi came through to fourth with five to go as Crutchlow ran wide and he was on the tail of Pedrosa, now behind 20-year-old Marquez. He had four laps to go - could it be possible? With three to go Pedrosa was right in his sights - and through into third and was bearing down on Marquez - veteran versus rookie.

The order now Lorenzo, Marquez and Rossi - with a firm bid at Marquez but the new guy held him off. And three laps to go... as Rossi goes through and into second with less than three laps remaining. The Doctor was now for sure happy in his surgery.s
Lorenzo, of course was way out of sight, seven seconds ahead of the surging Rossi. But Marquez wasn't giving up and squeezed past Rossi with two to go - what a ride for the young man. Then Rossi was past again, but with Marquez on his tail and showing riding skills others take years to learn.

Last lap, and Lorenzo over the line as Marquez tries for Rossi again into the double apex - the entire crowd on their feet.

Just three thou between them...

And now The Doctor turns up the heat, 20m ahead of Marques - and the order at the finish was Lorenzo, Rossi - he'd started seventh - and the brave Marquez. What a race!

Lorenzo finished 5.990sec ahead of his Italian team mate, seven-times the premier class World champion.

Reuters reported Lorenzo later as saying: "I'm very happy because Valentino came back to Yamaha. It's the best result for Yamaha. This was my target, to arrive on the podium from November of last season," Rossi said. "It could have been easier apart from the mistake at the beginning with (Dani) Pedrosa."

He was clearly elated after two miserable years away from Yamaha. "The bike was fantastic and I think we can enjoy this season."

Marquez was also grinning from ear to ear after pushing his boyhood idol all the way in a thrilling opener.

"It was so nice to be with him, a great battle," he grinned.

Results from the 2013 Motorcycling Grand Prix Qatar MotoGP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 42min39.802
2 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 42min45.792
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 42min46.003
4 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 42min49.275
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 42min58.566
6 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 43min01.950
7 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 43min04.157
8 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 43min04.722
9 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 43min16.926
10 Ben Spies (US) Ducati - 43min24.710
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 43min29.611
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 43min36.297
13 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR - 43min49.401
14 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Aprilia - 43min50.544
15 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) FTR - 43min53.402

Points standings after the 2013 Qatar MotoGP
1 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha - 25
2 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 20
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 16
4 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda - 13
5 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 11
6 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda - 10
7 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati - 9
8 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati - 8
9 Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati - 7
10 Ben Spies (US) Ducati - 6
11 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Aprilia - 5
12 Randy de Puniet (France) Aprilia - 4
13 Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR - 3
14 Yonny Hernandez (Colombia) Aprilia - 2
15 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) FTR - 1

Result from the 2013 Qatar Motorcycle GP Moto2
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Pons Kalex 40min31.782
2 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex 40min32.626
3 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex 40min43.880
4 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter 40min50.692
5 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex 40min50.715
6 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex 40min50.800
7 Simone Corsi (Italy) Speed up 40min51.012
8 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up 40min51.234
9 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Pons Kalex 40min52.001
10 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex 40min52.754
11 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter 40min53.456
12 Johann Zarco (France) Suter 40min53.866
13 Marcel Schroetter (Germany) Kalex 40min53.875
14 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter 40min54.278
15 Toni Elias (Spain) Kalex 41min08.459

Standings after the 2013 Motorcycle GP Moto2
1 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Pons Kalex - 25
2 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex - 20
3 Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) Kalex - 16
4 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter - 13
5 Mika Kallio (Finland) Kalex - 11
6 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex - 10
7 Simone Corsi (Italy) Speed up - 9
8 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed up - 8
9 Esteve Rabat (Spain) Pons Kalex - 7
10 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex - 6
11 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter - 5
12 Johann Zarco (France) Suter - 4
13 Marcel Schroetter (Germany) Kalex - 3
14 Nicolas Terol (Spain) Suter - 2
15 Toni Elias (Spain) Kalex - 1

Result from the 2013 Qatar Motorcycle GP Moto3
1 Luis Salom (Spain) KTM 38min26.859
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM 38min27.276
3 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM 38min27.282
4 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM 38min27.560
5 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex 38min27.775
6 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM 38min44.348
7 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra 38min44.425
8 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM 38min46.214
9 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM 38min55.825
10 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Mahindra 38min55.854
11 Danny Webb (Britain) Suter 38min56.299
12 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter 38min56.358
13 Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) Kalex 39min06.075
14 Alexis Masbou (France) FTR 39min06.274
15 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR 39min06.310

Points standings after the 2013 Qatar Motorcycle GP Moto3
1 Luis Salom (Spain) KTM - 25
2 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM - 20
3 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM - 16
4 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM - 13
5 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex - 11
6 Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Malaysia) KTM - 10
7 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra - 9
8 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM - 8
9 Niklas Ajo (Finland) KTM - 7
10 Efren Vazquez (Spain) Mahindra - 6
11 Danny Webb (Britain) Suter - 5
12 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter - 4
13 Jasper Iwema (Netherlands) Kalex - 3
14 Alexis Masbou (France) FTR - 2
15 Romano Fenati (Italy) FTR - 1


 
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