Despite a delayed entry, the Ducati Desmosedici GP15 impressed everyone with its pace at the final preseason testing at Sepang where it was considerably faster than the Japanese machines. But in the world of motorsport, testing performance and timings only matter if they convert into a good outing on race day and for Ducati it did. Andrea Dovizioso showcased the potential of the Ducati GP15 as he grabbed pole position while his teammate Andrea Iannone qualified fourth with both the Italian riders being split by the Repsol Honda duo. As the lights went off, Dovizioso made a clean start to head into the first corner maintaining his race lead but there was chaos at the back. Marc Marquez collided with Alvaro Bautista resulting in the reigning champion going off the track and being relegated to last place.
Jorge Lorenzo made a stupendous start as he rose from sixth to second place in a matter of one corner with Andrea Iannone in third place. The collision with Marquez resulted in Bautista retiring from the race. The pecking order remained unchanged in the opening few laps but it was a close three-way battle for the lead between Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Inannone. With 21 laps remaining in the race, the Yamaha rider made his move stick on Dovizioso to grab the race lead for the first time. While down the grid, Valentino Rossi was on a charge as he passed Yonny Hernandez and Dani Pedrosa in a matter of few corners to climb up in fourth position. As Lorenzo continued to lead the race, Marquez was on an absolute blitzkrieg. The Spanish rider was in sixth position after passing 15 riders in a matter of just seven laps showcasing his race prowess. In the following lap, Dovizioso regains the race lead from Lorenzo who seems to be struggling with the tyres on his M1 and soon Iannone takes advantage of this situation to pass him for second position.
Iannone missed his braking point in the following lap and Rossi jumped on the opportunity as he passed Lorenzo and the Ducati rider to clinch second place. Further down the grid, Marquez overtook Pedrosa for fifth position but wasn't successful in reducing the gap between the leading pack of riders and himself. With just four laps remaining, it was Dovizioso, Rossi and Iannone battling it out for the race lead. Going into the closing stages of the race, Dovizioso and Rossi hiked their race pace and it was evident that it would be a battle between the Italian duo for the win at Qatar.
With just three laps remaining, Rossi grabbed the race lead to a thunderous cheer from his ardent fans but Dovizioso responded soon and the pair kept on exchanging the race lead on almost every alternate corner. After an engrossing battle, Rossi was able to grab the race lead again with just about a lap remaining and despite Dovizioso's best attempt, the MotoGP legend takes the chequered flag to win the first race of the 2015 season. Andrea Inannone rounded off the podium with Lorenzo finishing fourth. It was Rossi's 83rd premiere class victory and after the race he said,"His best battle ever" and we couldn't agree more
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