As the wind swept through the Losail International Circuit, it was the Ducati quartet who blasted away at the beginning of the race. Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin stormed into the first corner, as it looked to be advantage Ducati. Bagnaia stretched a gap of 0.6s on the opening lap, with Zarco, Miller and the Monster Energy Yamaha’s chasing him down.

Danilo Petrucci crashed out on the opening lap of the #QatarGP, bringing a premature end to his KTM debut.  However he was up and walking away immediately – Rider OK!

As the hunt for Bagnaia continued, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales set a new race lap record, a blistering 1:54.624, with teammate Fabio Quartararo in tow. Quartararo revealed in a post-qualifying interview that if the Monster Energy Yamaha duo found themselves at the head of the race, they would not jeopardise their position.

The LCR duo, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez crashed out separately, after struggling for much of the weekend.

Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller, who topped the combined times and appeared fast throughout qualifying, seemed to run into tyre issues as the race unfolded and he slipped back through pack to P9. Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Alex Rins cut his way through the pack, after a dreadful start, battling with the front group in the second half of the race.

With 11 laps remaining Viñales caught Bagnaia and battle commenced. Bagnaia gave it everything in an attempt to fend off Viñales, however it was only a matter of time before the Yamaha found its way past the Ducati. As Bagnaia, Zarco, Rins and Miller tried to cling onto the coattails of Viñales, he began to stretch the pack, building a 1.4s lead in just 5 laps.

Reigning World Champion, Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Joan Mir came charging into the leading group, claiming a comfortable 3^rd position.  As he mounted his attack on Pramac Racing’s Zarco in the closing laps he breezed past Zarco and reeled Viñales’ lead back to 1.1s.  It was to everyone’s surprise when the Pramac Racing Ducati of Zarco and the Ducati Lenovo of Bagnaia came storming past Mir to take 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, leaving Mir in 4^th.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Quartararo recovered to finish 5^th, ahead of Rins and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro. Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro impressed on his Honda debut, finishing 8^th, ahead of Ducati Lenovo’s Miller. Top Rookie, Esponsorama Racing’s Enea Bastianini finished in the top 10 in his premiere class debut, an exceptional result for the reigning Moto 2 World Champion!

We look forward to next week, as the MotoGP class line up for round 2 in Qatar.  Can Ducati secure the top spot, or will Viñales claim Losail as his own once again?