MotoGP 2014 Losail Results

After a shocking offseason, in which the MotoGP world appeared to have been turned on its head, it was mostly the usual suspects occupying the podium as the big bikes of MotoGP kicked off 2014 in fine style under the lights of Losail. Defending world champion Marc Marquez, six weeks after breaking his leg, barely held off a resurgent Valentino Rossi for the win, with Dani Pedrosa sneaking onto the podium in third place. Double world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who has been singing the blues for months, crashed out of the lead on Lap One and landed squarely behind the eight ball.

In the run-up to the race, considerable discussion centered around the off-season rule changes and the effects those changes would have on life in the upper reaches of the premier class. A comparison of the 2013 QP2 and 2014 QP2 illustrates how far off base many of those conversations were. Without exception, every rider who made it through to QP2 in 2014 improved his time compared to last year.

The expectation that the 2014 Open class would be more competitive than the 2013 CRT class has been clearly met. The groaning and gnashing of teeth emanating from the Movistar Yamaha team that the new rules punish them for their previous success ring hollow, in that they, too, improved their qualifying times from last year. The “unfair advantage” Ducati allegedly enjoys by opting to run in the Open class is a myth; in 2013, Ducatis qualified 4th, 10th and 11th, while this year they managed 4th, 8th and 11th. And even poor Nicky Hayden, whose Honda Production Racer is, according to him, only slightly faster than a 1986 Vespa, improved on his time from last year, just not by enough to make it to QP2. Waah waah waah.

With a front row comprised of Repsol Honda’s wonderkid, FUN&GO Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista, and Monster Tech3 Yamaha Brit Bradley Smith, the offseason madness looked set to continue into the season opener. Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo? Fifth. Repsol Honda veteran Pedrosa? Sixth. Aging factory Yamaha icon Rossi? Tenth. Expectations were all over the board. NGM Forward Yamaha poster boy Aleix Espargaro, who had owned the off-season and the first three practice sessions in Doha, choked on a bone in qualifying, crashing both of his bikes, and started from ninth place. Of the first 12 qualifiers, four were factory studs, another four represented satellite factory teams, and four enjoyed Open class advantages in fuel and tire choices, three of which were Ducatis.

Anything could happen.

The race got off to a clean start, with Lorenzo vaulting into the lead, putting his ambition to become a Spanish blues singer on hold. Then, in turn 15 of Lap One, the unthinkable occurred – Lorenzo crashed out of the lead, an unforced error which just as suddenly revived his musical aspirations. As the riders crossed the start/finish line for the first time, it was Stefan Bradl on the LCR Honda, Marquez, Smith, Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducati, Andrea Iannone on the satellite Ducati, and Rossi leading the way. My thoughts, at that point:

Gradually (ignoring the Lorenzo debacle) a state of normalcy began to settle over the field. Iannone crashed out on Lap Two, but would recover sufficiently to finish tenth. Both Bautista and Pedrosa began picking riders off and moving up the chart. Rossi, who I thought had been sandbagging over the winter, suddenly materialized in fourth place on Lap Six. Bradl crashed out at turn six of Lap Nine, at which point the top five riders were Marquez, Rossi, Smith, Pedrosa and Bautista. Instead of a 2013 front group consisting of one or two riders, there were four or five in the picture. Things were getting interesting. And by “interesting”, I mean that Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, Tomorrow and Yesterday, suddenly found themselves in a cage match that would provide 13 laps of grand prix motorcycle racing at its finest.

Ultimately, Smith crashed his satellite Yamaha on Lap 19, giving up 11 championship points in the process, and Bautista laid his RC213V down on Lap 21, handing third place to Pedrosa. That Marquez would enjoy his seventh career win in the premier class was not a shock; for him, a broken leg seems about as bothersome as a head cold. That he would need every ounce of skill, daring and luck he owns to nip Rossi at the flag is remarkable.

Rossi is not a seven time premier class champion for nothing, and his ability to adjust to pretty much anything – outside of a Ducati Desmosedici – is firmly established. There must be some serious head-shaking going on in the Movistar Yamaha garage tonight, as the new boss has, for the time being, given way to the old boss. And I wonder how Jeremy Burgess, Rossi’s former crew chief, is feeling about now.

Aleix Espargaro, despite his miserable QP and inauspicious start, ended the day in fourth place, and must still be feeling wildly optimistic about his prospects for the season. Two other Brits in the field, Cal Crutchlow on the Ducati and rookie Scott Redding on the production Honda, ended up sixth and seventh, sticking it in the eye of the American contingent of Hayden and Colin Edwards, who still had relatively good days. Hayden drove his Vespa to an eighth place finish, while the 40-year-old Edwards enjoyed his first top ten finish in over a year aboard the #2 NGM Forward Yamaha. Edwards insists that he will switch to the FTR frame once it is ready, while teammate Espargaro seems pretty happy with the status quo. As noted above, Andrea Iannone completed today’s top ten.