The MotoGP season is finally underway. After several months of waiting, winter tests (private and official), and free practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, qualifying gave a taste of what to expect for the first race...
The unknowns of this Grand Prix
If the unique software and the arrival of Michelin could have upset the established order, during qualifying, this was not the case: Jorge Lorenzo showed that he was the man to beat this season once again. Author of a 62nd pole position and having an offer to continue with Yamaha, the Majorcan can concentrate solely on defending his title.
« The electronics being the same for everyone, the choice of tires will be crucial in racing, » said Lorenzo yesterday at a press conference.
The second parameter or rather, the unknown of this first race, concerns the endurance of the Michelins over the 22 laps of the race. The simulations carried out by the drivers during the winter show that the Michelins behave much better after 10 or 15 laps, unlike the Bridgestones. However, " You will have to be careful at the start of the race with full fuel,” Loris Baz nevertheless confided to us last night. “ We had several alerts at the front during our simulations and at the start, we will have to take care not to make any errors."
The firepower of the D16 GP
For racing, the tire choices are diverse and varied. Lorenzo chose to go out on the hard front and soft rear while Marquez and Rossi opted for the hard front and the medium rear. Viñales and the two official Ducatis opt for a soft front and rear combination.
The best start was made by Lorenzo who took the lead at the first corner ahead of Andrea Iannone, Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi. Marquez completes the top 5 ahead of his teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Lorenzo is under threat from the two Ducatis who have a phenomenal top speed on this track (nearly 10 km/h more on average). The Yamaha rider cannot fight against the two Italians in a straight line. He started the second lap in third position ahead of Rossi and the two Repsol Hondas.
Marquez takes the advantage over Rossi who tries to keep up with the pace of the four leaders. Further on, Viñales and Pedrosa formed the group in 6th place, soon joined by Cal Crutchlow who fell a few moments later, without seriousness.
Doviozioso and Iannone oppose each other in a thunderous fight for command of the race, under the watchful eye of Lorenzo. With 17 laps to go, Iannone lost the lead and made a mistake, leaving the lead to his teammate.
Lorenzo, Marquez and Rossi remain in contact with Ducati. Lorenzo then becomes more and more insistent on the Ducati. He took the advantage 14 laps from the finish and managed to contain the power of the Ducati in a straight line.
At the halfway mark, Lorenzo retained the advantage ahead of Dovizioso and Marquez. Rossi struggled to keep pace, but he managed to set the fastest time going into the final eight laps. While Lorenzo takes off slightly, Dovizioso and Marquez leave Rossi who finds himself alone in 4th position.
Four laps from the checkered flag, Marquez attacked Dovizioso and took second place. The Italian (tender/tender) then finds himself in Rossi's line of sight.
Lorenzo begins the last lap alone in the lead, the only driver under the 1'55 mark. The fight rages for second place. Dovizioso takes advantage of the power of the Ducati to contain Marquez who nevertheless attempts a final attack in vain. Rossi fails to take advantage of the resulting small confusion and falls just short of the podium, in 4th position.
Behind, more than 14 seconds, Pedrosa completes the Top5 ahead of Viñales and the Tech3 duo led by P. Espargaro, first satellite driver.
Loris Baz, struggling to find the right feeling on the Ducati GP14.2, fell before halfway and was forced to retire.
Race ranking
| Pos | The point system | number | Pile | Country | Team | Motorcycle | Km / h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | SPA | Yamaha Motor Racing | Yamaha | 167.1 | 42'28.452 |
| 2 | 20 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 167.0 | +2.019 |
| 3 | 16 | 93 | Marc Márquez | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 167.0 | +2.287 |
| 4 | 13 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Yamaha Motor Racing | Yamaha | 167.0 | +2.387 |
| 5 | 11 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 166.2 | +14.083 |
| 6 | 10 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 166.1 | +15.423 |
| 7 | 9 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | SPA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 165.9 | +18.629 |
| 8 | 8 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 165.9 | +18.652 |
| 9 | 7 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 165.8 | +21.160 |
| 10 | 6 | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | OCTO Yakhnich bow | Ducati | 165.6 | +24.435 |
| 11 | 5 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 164.8 | +35.847 |
| 12 | 4 | 50 | Eugene LAVERTY | IRL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 164.5 | +41.756 |
| 13 | 3 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 164.4 | +41.932 |
| 14 | 2 | 43 | Jack Miller | AUS | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 164.4 | +41.982 |
| 15 | 1 | 53 | Tito RABAT | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | 163.6 | +54.953 |
| Unclassified | ||||||||
| 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 163.5 | 11 Tours | ||
| 76 | Loris BAZ | FRA | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 164.0 | 14 Tours | ||
| 35 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Honda LCR | Honda | 165.0 | 16 Tours | ||
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 165.7 | 17 Tours | ||
| 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 156.8 | 21 Tours | ||
