As Murphy's Law explains, if something can go wrong, statistically one day it will go wrong. Jorge Lorenzo had the cruel experience of this for his first Grand Prix on Ducati.
However, everything was looking good, Jorge being the most successful rider in Qatar with six first places to his credit, acquired in 125 in 2004, in 250 in 2006 and 2007, and in MotoGP in 2012, 2013 and 2016. The Desmosedici also mastered the bends of Losail and especially its straight, with two podiums for Andrea Dovizioso the last two years.
Dovi confirmed the good adaptation of the Red during preliminary tests with the second time, 0.07 behind the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales. Jorge was then fourth, 0.1 behind Vinales and all hopes seemed justified. But the free practice sessions were disastrous, with Lorenzo only finishing in twelfth position at the end of FP3, which forced him to go through the infamous Q1. The rain saved him from this outrage, but he had to start from the fourth row. This was not, however, an insurmountable handicap, as would later be demonstrated. Valentino Rossi, also started from this fourth line.
The Lorenzo Show ended on the first lap in turn five, when Jorge went off the outside and dropped to sixteenth, more than four seconds behind leader Johann Zarco. He was going back up, doubling Danilo Petrucci, Loris Baz et alex rins, before on the fourteenth lap he was forced to drop his pace and, then in ninth position, to be passed by Alex Rins and Jonas Folger. He then fought head to foot with Loris Baz and managed to beat the Frenchman by a second at the finish line, finally finishing eleventh.
The real question was to know what was, beyond these adventures, the real speed of Lorenzo on the Ducati. In this area, he did not place himself better than his eleventh final position would suggest. He actually set the eleventh time of the race in 1'56.744, compared to Zarco's best lap in 1'55.990 or Dovizioso's fourth time in 1'56.245.
For Lorenzo, “ It was a very complicated race in all its aspects. I got off to a good start, but widened on the first lap and lost a lot of places in the standings. This conditioned the rest of my race. I then felt better on the bike and started to ride in the same rhythm as the leaders.
“Unfortunately, during the last part of the race, I gradually lost confidence in my tires and my bike required more physical riding. So I slowed down my pace and couldn't finish in the top ten.
“I want to stay positive, even if my first race for Ducati didn't end as I would have liked. It is also true that we are only just getting started and we know that we still have a lot of work to do.. »
Ranking :
Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 38m 59.999s
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 39m 0.460s
Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 39m 1.927s
Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 39m 6.744s
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 39m 7.127s
Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 39m 7.660s
Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 39m 9.781s
Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 39m 14.485s
Alex Rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 39m 14.787s
Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 39m 15.068s
Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 39m 20.515s
Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 39m 21.254s
Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 39m 28.827s
Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 39m 29.122s
Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 39m 29.469s
Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 39m 33.600s
Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 39m 39.703s
Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 39m 47.130
