2017 Qatar MotoGP: Vinales Stamps His Authority

  • Mar 27, 2017
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The 2017 MotoGP season opener was an action packed race with Maverick Vinales making a dream debut for Yamaha while Andrea Dovizioso finished second and a Valentino Rossi made a brilliant comeback to finish third

2017 Qatar MotoGP

Pre-Race Drama:

The 2017 season of MotoGP started on a weird note as qualifying was cancelled. The unseasonal rains caught the organisers by surprise and there was standing water off the track. The Losail circuit officials tried their best to dry the track but they couldn’t and it was decided that the qualifying session will be cancelled. The starting grid was based on average lap times in practice and this meant that Maverick Vinales, in his first outing for Yamaha, started the Qatar Grand Prix from pole. He was joined by Andrea Iannone and Marc Marquez on the front grid. MotoGP rookie Johann Zarco was fourth while Valentino Rossi started the race from 10th place. 

There was more drama awaiting MotoGP fans on race day as it just started raining as the riders lined up on the starting grid. The start was delayed and this frustrated the spectators. A last minute meeting between the officials resulted in the race distance being reduced to 20 laps and the riders were given two warm up laps to understand the track conditions better. 

2017 Qatar MotoGP

The Rookie Show:

As the lights went off, it was Andrea Iannone who made a blistering start to take the race lead. He was followed by debutant Johann Zarco in second with Marquez close on his heels. Vinales made a poor start which saw him being swamped by the trailing pack of riders and he was pushed down to 5th place. Zarco surprised everyone when he passed Iannone rather easily to take the race lead, making a statement to his detractors that he wasn’t a twin Moto2 champion just by luck. At the end of lap 1, the Frenchman was flying and had managed to etch out a lead of over few tenths of a second ahead of the Suzuki rider. Marquez knew that he had to make a move in the initial stages of the race and the Repsol Honda rider muscled his way past Iannone to take second. 

2017 Qatar MotoGP

Marquez clocked the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of the rookie rider but wasn’t able to cut down his lead by much. Further back, Rossi had made good progress and was now up in 6th behind his team-mate. Andrea Dovizioso also joined in the scuffle for 2nd place and grid positions kept on shuffling. This battle allowed Zarco to further extend his lead and he was flying around Losail. With 14 laps in the race remaining, Zarco was comfortably leading the race when disaster struck. The Frenchman lost the front of his Yamaha machine and crashed out of the race and his fairy tale debut came to an abrupt and sad end. 

2017 Qatar MotoGP
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Battle for Glory:

Zarco’s crash handed the lead to Andrea Dovizioso who was now posting some quick laps and had built a sizeable lead over Marquez. The Repsol Honda rider was struggling for pace with his wrong tyre selection and Iannone was all over his back. With 12 laps remaining in the race, the Suzuki rider passed Marquez to take second place while the Yamaha duo of Vinales and Rossi were slowly catching up. Dovi was flying on his Ducati and was now leading the race with a lead of over 1 second on his former team-mate. 

2017 Qatar MotoGP

The Yamaha duo had closed down on Marquez and Iannone, making it a 4-way battle for second place. Rossi made a mistake at the end of lap 11 and ran wide. Iannone was coming under severe pressure which got the better of him as he lost the front of his Suzuki and crashed out. This paved way for the much hyped about Marquez vs Vinales battle but the Repsol Honda rider was struggling and Vinales overtook him effortlessly. Soon it was Rossi’s turn to pass the reigning champion as he took third place. Vinales was in his zone and was the fastest man around the track and in a span of just 3 laps, he reduced Dovizioso's 2 second lead on him! 

2017 Qatar MotoGP

The Italian rider and Vinales were engrossed in a great battle that brought the crowd on their feet. The Yamaha was quicker around the corners but the Ducati went like a missile on the long straight, handing the lead to Dovi. The tussle for the lead went on for many more laps and the race lead kept on changing. Vinales made a mistake at the end of lap 15 and this allowed Rossi to come close to him. But Vinales was swift to respond and managed to edge ahead of his team-mate. Rossi was struggling with his tyre and seemed to have been content with 3rd place. 

2017 Qatar MotoGP

This meant it was a fight to the chequered flag between Dovizioso and Vinales. It was Maverick Vinales who won this scuffle as he posted his fastest lap of the race in the final lap to fend off any challenge from Dovizioso and to take his first win for Yamaha in his debut race for the Japanese team. Marquez finished a lonely fourth and was followed by team-mate Dani Pedrosa. The surprise performance of the race was Aleix Espargaro who finished sixth, which is the best finish for Aprilia in the past few years. Alex Rins was the best of the rookie riders, finishing ninth, and as for Jorge Lorenzo he had a dismal debut for Ducati, finishing 11th. 

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