Rossi Wins At Qatar MotoGP Opening Race

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi opened the 2015 MotoGP season with victory at the Grand Prix of Qatar. Rossi rode an incredible race starting from eighth on the grid. The nine-time world champion fell back to tenth position and took a few laps to get a feel for the situation. As his pace quickened, he overtook several riders including Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa on lap four and Pramac Racing's Yonny Hernandez moving into fourth.

Rossi then closed the gap to the front group of Ducati Team's Andrea Dovizioso, Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Dovi's teammate Andrea Iannone. This was the start of an incredible final battle between the two factory teams as the riders changed positions several times.

Rossi fought hard, eventually overtaking Iannone with four laps to go. The final duel with Dovizioso followed, with the Doctor giving one of the best performances in his 20-year MotoGP career. Fighting until the very last corner he gave everything to hold the advantage and clinch the first victory of the 2015 season with a margin of 0.174s.

Lorenzo also had a great start to his 2015 Championship, flying from sixth on the grid to chase Dovizioso, as reigning World Champion Marc Marquez ran wide on the first turn and fell back to last position. Lorenzo took over at the front in turn 12 of lap two, but was unable to maintain the lead. His battle with Dovisioso continued until they were joined by Iannone and Rossi.

Marquez fought back to finish fifth followed by his teammate Pedrosa who finished more than 10 seconds off the lead in sixth. After the race, Pedrosa announced that he had been having arm pump problems since last year and will be taking time off to recover. Pedrosa is doubtful for the next MotoGP race at Austin's Circuit Of The Americas.

Cal Crutchlow was the leading satellite bike on his CWM LCR Honda in seventh while Avinta Racing’s Hector Barbera finished as the top Open class rider in fifteenth.

Rossi‘s victory places him first in the championship standings with 25 points.