(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Rizwan Rehmat / The Peninsula
DOHA: MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso finished runner-up in the last three editions of the Grand Prix of Qatar.
However, the Ducati hero set the record straight bagging his maiden GP win at a flood-lit Losail International Circuit (LIC).
The 31-year-old finished just 0.027 seconds ahead of defending champion Marc Marquez and riding legend Valentino Rossi in the season's opening race where pole winner Johann Zarco could not make the most of a top grid start.
It was Dovizioso's 9th MotoGP win and eight of those have come in last 21 races for the Italian. The Dovizioso-Marquez battle took shape in lap 18 when the two made their move for the lead as they passed Zarco at the first turn.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) completed the top five.
'It was a perfect race, perfect weekend, Dovizioso said after the thrilling season-opening race.
'We worked very well, we did everything in a perfect way. Like I expected, there were a lot of fast riders in the race, but we managed (to win) in a perfect way, he added.
'I had a really bad start, but (I) was calm. I recovered very slowly and saved a lot of tyres. I was able to push at the end, but at the end the tyre was finished, like everybody else's. So it was very difficult, like always with Marc, it's very difficult in the last lap, but I was able to beat him again, Dovizioso said.
'I'm so happy, and we had to win in this track after three second positions. Thank you to the team, we worked very well during the winter test, that is very important, the Qatar winner said.
Marquez said: 'I tried to give my 100 percent, I knew before the race that this is one of the most difficult tracks for me, but I tried, and when Dovi was pushing, I was reaching the limit, extra limit, and closing the front, losing the rear.
He added: 'Anyway I arrived close in the last corner, I tried, even like this I thought Dovi would overtake me before the finish line with the slipstream. But anyway I tried. Some day I will do (it) - but again he beat me. But I am very happy, because podium here was the main target. Second place, we lost only five points - really happy.
Ducati Team's Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso leads the pack during the 2018 Qatar Moto GP Grand Prix at the Losail International Circuit in Lusail.
Rossi, who has won the Grand Prix of Qatar four times, sounded thrilled with his podium finish.
'I'm so happy. But I expected more compared to last year, because with the bike of this year I feel good, Rossi, starting his 23rd Grand Prix season at the age of 39, said after the race.
'I know that Marquez and Dovizioso are faster at this moment, they have a little bit more speed - so when Dovi went in front, I tried to give 120 percent to stay with them, because I needed to go from the second group to stand (on) the podium, he added. 'I'm so happy. I enjoyed a lot, thanks to my team, thanks to Yamaha. Now we will try to continue like this, Rossi said.
Earlier, Italian rising star Francesco Bagnaia showed why he was named Rookie of the Year last season when he edged compatriot Lorenzo Baldassarri - his fellow VR46 academy rider - to claim his maiden Moto2 Grand Prix win.
Bagnaia, who has already secured a MotoGP ride for 2019 with Pramac Ducati, was beaming from ear to ear with his spectacular finish that thrilled his camp in the pits.
The Rossi protege sealed his first Grand Prix win on the final lap, clocking a time of 40'19.802. Baldassarri, riding for Pons HP40, finished 0.112 seconds behind Bagnaia who has won two Moto3 Grands Prix in his young career.
Italian rising star Francesco Bagnaia lifts his Moto2 Grand Prix trophy.
Pole winner Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), was 5.625 seconds slower than Bagnaia, while Italy's Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team, +6.657 seconds) and Portugal's Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo, + 10.296 seconds) completed the top five in the season's first Moto2 battle. Bagnaia took the lead in the first corner and then as expected the 32 riders quickly fell into rhythm. Despite a few problems on lap 15, Marquez, 21, managed to secure a podium finish when he ended the race behind Bagnaia - who had shown amazing speed in the 20-lap race - and Baldassarri.
In an entertaining final-lap battle, Bagnaia managed to nail the neck-to-neck battle by reclaiming his lead - that he had lost for brief while - by holding his good speed at LIC.
Earlier, 20-year-old Spaniard Jorge Martin produced a great battle with compatriot Aron Canet to nail his second career Moto3 victory and his second in Qatar since 2015. The Del Conca Gresini Moto3 rider clocked a time of 38'18.207 in the 18-lap race.
Canet, riding for Estrella Galicia 0,0, was just 0.023 seconds slower as Martin took the chequered flag at flood-lit LIC.
Leopard Racing's Lorenzo Dalla Porta (+6.746 seconds), pole winner Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse, +6.791 seconds) and Argentina's Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider, +6.850) completed the top five in the season's opening Moto3 race.
Martin said: 'I pushed hard from the start, but when I saw others close to me, I tried to relax. In the end, I tried to hold something back so I could give it all on the last sector and I succeeded in bringing home the result that I wanted, said the rider.
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