The Qatar MotoGP thread

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Looking like Marquez is going to boss this one again, and the most exciting class would seem to be Moto 2.

Lowes is setting the pace so far in Moto 2.

Nothing interesting in Moto 3. More generic fast Spanish lads from the newly titled "Junior Moto 3 championship" (former CEV championship).

https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/216906/1/motogp-qatar-free-practice-1-results.html

The financial irregularities of Crutchlow's key sponsor doesn't seem to be affecting him yet.

Would have expected Redding to be higher on a factory bike, but there is still time, and fully expect him and the Marc VDS team to get him further up the grid come Sunday.

Was anyone expecting the Suzuki to finish that high up and not explode as well?
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[Fowlersrs]

Nice solid start from Cal, I'm not gonna read too much into the first session, expecting Ducati to climb tomorrow

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Slacker24seve...]

[Fowlersrs]

Gonna be interesting, potentially you could see suzuki and Ducati hog the front row in qualifying with softer tyres, makes for interesting starts come race time

[Suntan Sid]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Joncrete Cungle]

I am looking forward to seeing what Aleix Espargaro can do on a better bike, his 7th place finish in the final standings last year on a CRT machine was imho immense.

[garth]

[Slacker24seve...]

[Al]

[Howling Terror]

Make sure you watch it.
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[Fowlersrs]

Ducati are back

[CaNsA]

I didn't expect that...

Epic Race!

[Old Git Racing]

Best race for years! Should be a good season.

OGR
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[Musketeer]

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[Liam_]

I agree with OGR. Fantastic race. Can't wait for the next one.
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[........................]

If I was a no tail I'd have Rossi's babies. What a race.

[Suntan Sid]

Cracking races in all classes!

Contains Spoilers, BEWARE!































Nice to see Marquez get a taste of his own medicine for a change, nerfed off the track mid corner, mind you he still couldn't resist having a go himself when he was making up some places.

I think Rossi was sand bagging during the race, not taking the slipstream on the straight, then turning the wick up for the last blast to the finish line, classic Rossi!

Love it when Rossi wins, after over a hundred GP wins, he still looks, genuinely, ecstatic!

Mr Honda will not be happy, now his race pace advantage seems to have evaporated!
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[Kris]

Epic race. Those Ducati's are finally flying again.

Rossi was just too fast for them at the end. Classic stuff!
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[Slacker24seve...]

Best season opener that I can remember

Ominous for any teams that aren't red.
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[Al]

Pedrosa's season is over before it started, just said that he needs to take a break from racing to sort out an ongoing issue with his arm.
Cal on a repsol honda? The return of Stoner. Bad news for Dani either way.
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[Old Git Racing]

[Suntan Sid]

A lot of chatter about how fast the ducatis were, yet the Hondas had the top speeds, on the straight.
Doesn't bode well for Honda as they were considered the best handling and fastest bikes last year.
Neither Marquez or Pedrosa made any real inroads into the leaders lap times, Marquez had a go but couldn't maintain it.
Looks like all the other manufacturers made bigger improvements, over the winter, than Honda!
On top of that Pedrosa's out, all is not well for the big "H"!
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]