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Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) took an incredible victory at the VisitQatar Grand Prix after an epic desert duel between five riders in the latter stages ends with the Italian beating Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) by 0.023, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) beating Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to P3 - the top five split by just 0.6 seconds.

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 Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) grabbed P1 and P2 into Turn 1, Marquez held position in P3 with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) not getting the start he would have been aiming for from pole – P1 to P6 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, running in P2, seemed to have an issue in the final sector. The Australian having to sit up on the racing line as he appeared to remove part of his seat before continuing, the Ducati dropping to P11 in strange fashion.

The race then settled into a rhythm, with Dovi controlling a steady pace at the front as tire management started coming into play. Rins was the man on the move on Lap 4 as the Spaniard made a sharp start from P10 on the grid, the Suzuki man coming through to take the lead Lap 5. Dovi and Rins then exchanged P1 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, Dovizioso going from a 1:55.3 to a 1:56.1 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 (Team Suzuki Ecstar) to go up to P6. 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 1 after the reigning World Champion had got the better of his rival on the penultimate lap, with Crutchlow P3, Rins P4 and Rossi P5. Pushing hard, Marquez had a slight moment with the front at Turn 3 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 Australian GP crash, with Rins a valiant P4 and Rossi again proving you should never count ‘The Doctor’ out in P5 from P14 on the grid.

Petrucci would have to settle for P6 on his maiden factory Ducati ride, 2.320 the Italian finished behind his teammate in the end, with polesitter Viñales crossing the line 0.161 back from ‘Petrux’ in P7. Mir produced a fantastic rookie ride to finish just over five seconds off the race win in P8, the Spaniard beating ninth place Nakagami and tenth place Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) – 9.636 covering the top 10 in Qatar.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was just 0.011 behind Espargaro in P11 on his debut ride for Yamaha, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team), Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the point scoring positions.

Wow, caught your breath back yet? What a way to open 2019 as MotoGP treat us to an absolute classic in Qatar. Is it time to go to Argentina already?

Moto2

Flexbox HP 40’s Lorenzo Baldassarri had to fight off huge last lap pressure from the returning Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) to take Moto2 victory at the VisitQatar Grand Prix.

The Italian lead from lap two but had to ride brilliantly in the final sector of the last lap to hold off a swarming Lüthi, eventually taking the checkered flag just 0.026 of a second clear of the Swiss rider.

As the lights went out it was Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who took the holeshot from the middle of the front row of the grid whilst carnage ensued behind.

Debutant Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46), Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) all crashing out at Turn 1 before Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Marco Bezzechi crashed out of his debut ride at Turn 6.

Baldassarri blasted his way past Vierge on lap two before slowly but surely beginning to build up an advantage over the chasing pack.

Despite taking the holeshot, Vierge started to slip backwards, dropping from second to fifth inside four corners on lap seven. Dynavolt Intact GP´s Marcel Schrötter, Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and his EG 0,0 Marc VDS teammate Alex Marquez all making their way past the Catalan.

Lüthi then got in on the act, fighting his way through to fifth place before setting back-to-back lap records around the Losail International Circuit to close in onto the back of Marquez before quickly disposing of the Moto2 veteran.

The Kalex man then jumped into third place past Austrlaian Gardner with six laps remaining and set up a grandstand finish by catching and passing teammate Schrötter with four laps left.

The former MotoGP man had 0.821 to pull in to catch Baldassarri at the front of the race and with just a lap left, he had managed to cut that advantage down to nothing and was all over the rear of the Italian's Kalex.

Baldassarri held off Lüthi’s charge for three quarters of the lap but Lüthi looked favorite going into the final sector, applying huge pressure to the man who finished second at Qatar this time last year.

Somehow, Baldassarri’s defensive riding was enough to keep Luthi at bay and as the pair exited the final Turn 16 they were side-by-side with Baldassarri holding on by just 0.026 of a second to take victory.

Gardner stole third place from Schrötter on the final lap, but the German slipstreamed his way past the Australian to take the final step on the box by two thousandths of a second, completing a Dynovolt Intact GP double podium finish.

Flexbox HP 40’s Augusto Fernandez came from row four of the grid to take fifth place, narrowly ahead of Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2).

Marquez eventually had to settle for seventh, over two seconds clear of SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini in a lonely eighth place.

Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini was one of the rides of the day to take ninth on his Moto2™ debut fighting off Vierge, who slipped down to tenth after a strong start.

Moto3

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) became the first Japanese winner in the lightweight class since Tomoyoshi Koyama took victory in the 125cc race at the 2007 Catalan GP after a stunning ride in the Moto3 race at the VisitQatar Grand Prix.

Toba started third on the grid but it was polesitter Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) who got the initial good launch from the line to lead into Turn 1, with Toba slotting into P2 ahead of second on the grid Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing).

There was drama on the opening lap further back though, with Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai), Tom Booth-Amos (CIP – Green Power), Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) crashing out of contention at Turn 6, with the already injured Masia heading to the medical center for a checkup.

Back at the front and it was Canet, Dalla Porta, Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Tony Arbolino (Snipers Team) who got an initial break, but it wasn’t long before a lead group of top 19 formed – two seconds covering them in true Moto3 fashion.

A nail-biting start to a new era in Moto2 with Baldassarri collecting a commemorative first Triumph-powered race win trophy alongside his VisitQatar Grand Prix race winner prize. With a plethora of riders showing their potential this weekend, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll collect 25 points in Argentina.

The lead swapped and changed between several riders, with Toba forcing his way to the front on Lap 6. A 19-rider fight then became 16, Turn 6 the location again as another multiple rider crash occurred – this time it was Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46), Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) who crashed out.

Fellow SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Niccolo Antonelli then had a turn at leading the freight train with 10 to go, before Romano Fenati (Snipers Team) took the baton off his compatriot to lead for the first time in Qatar – nine laps to go.

The lead was changing lap by lap and with eight laps to go, any one of the top 15 were still in with a shout of the win. Then, with four laps to go, a major talking point of the race happened. Fenati seemed to misunderstand a track limits warning that appeared on his dashboard, the Italian then dived into the new ‘penalty lap’ area on the outside of Turn 6 to drop him from fourth to 12th. Fenati wasn’t out of it though as the top 13 were covered by less than two seconds with just three laps to go.

The lead was changing every lap as the slipstream effect came into play down the front straight, but it was Toba who led onto the final lap, with the Leopard Racing duo tucked in behind. The Japanese rider got his head down and suddenly, himself, Dalla Porta and Canet had forged a small gap to the following pack as it soon became a three-way fight for the win. Coming into Turn 16, Dalla Porta had the advantage but Toba used the slipstream to full effect, powering past his fellow Honda rider down the straight to take the chequered flag in P1, becoming the first Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Champion to win a Grand Prix. Dalla Porta settled for P2, with Canet coming home third to give himself and Max Biaggi a podium in Qatar.

Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) managed to bring his Honda home in P4, with Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) crossing the line in fifth to get his rookie Moto3 season off to a great start. Arenas, a contender for the win throughout, beat reigning Junior Moto3 World Champion and teammate Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) to the line by 0.028 – 6th and 7th respectively for the duo.

2016 Qatar GP winner Antonelli was just 0.004 off Fernandez in P8, with Fenati salvaging P9 after looking odds on for at least a podium on his return. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrüstelGP) rounded out the top ten, less than a second from the win.

History made then in the opening race of the lightweight class season, with Toba becoming the first Japanese winner of a GP since Takaaki Nakagami won the 2017 Moto2 British Grand Prix. What a race to kick start the season!