Moto GP 2013: Successful start

Qatar as the first venue marked the start of the new season for the three Grand Prix categories. The Losail International Circuit also celebrated an anniversary in 2013, as it was the 10th time that a Moto GP event was held at the desert circuit.

Eight new riders bring a breath of fresh air to the premier class for the new season. Lukas Pesek, Bryan Staring, Bradley Smith, Andrea Iannone, Michael Laverty and Marc Márquez make their debut. Hiroshi Aoyama and Claudio Corti are now set as riders this season after initial attempts last year. Marc Márquez has moved up to the Moto 2 class after his title win last year. He celebrated his 20th birthday in February, making him the youngest rider in the field. Colin Edwards, on the other hand, is the veteran among the riders at the age of 39.

The race in Qatar

With full floodlights and cooler temperatures, the Grand Prix of the premier class starts in the evening in Doha as the last staging of all categories quasi highlight. On the front row are Lorenzo, Rossi and Pedrosa, with Lorenzo occupying the pole. Rossi misjudges in the 2nd lap and falls back to 7th place. Lorenzo leads confidently and gets a lead out. Pedrosa in 2nd place is being harassed by Crutchlow. Crutchlow's Yamaha seems more stable in the corners, but the Honda is faster on the straights. Marc Márquez also passes Crutchlow. Together they make up the group of three chasing the leader Jorge Lorenzo, who after four laps has opened up a lead of 2.049 seconds over the chasers. Debutant Bradley Smith goes into the gravel on lap 5 and retires, as did Karl Abraham four laps earlier.
German Stefan Bradl is in 5th place in the pack of the second chasing group, followed by Rossi and Dovizioso, who was third in the first lap but could not keep up the pace. Bautista and Hayden follow them. On the 7th lap Rossi passes Bradl on the inside in turn 10. He, in turn, tries not to let Rossi pull away and slid out in one of the following turns. Marquez also skids in the 9th lap when he gets too much on the curbs, but is able to catch himself. Jorge Lorenzo literally drives away from the chasing group with a lead of 4 seconds in lap 10. With eight laps to go, Rossi closes the gap to the chasing group and applies pressure in his incorruptible manner. Two laps later, rookie Marquez passes his teammate on the home straight and is now in second place. The fight for the podium intensifies. On lap 17 Rossi steers his Yamaha onto the inside of the start-finish straight and displaces Crutchlow, who is still in fourth place. The latter, in turn, loses control while trying to counter and can no longer steer into the corner, goes straight and then falls back, but keeps his position due to the previously established lead of the "winning group". One lap later Rossi catches Pedrosa in turn 10, as he did earlier with Stefan Bradl. Rossi overtakes Marquez in turn 3 on the following lap. The youngest in the field and already dubbed the "next Rossi" doesn't take this lying down and strikes back on the home straight, where he passes on the inside. But Rossi stays on Marquez's rear tire in the penultimate lap and defeats him in one of the following corners. Pedrosa seems to be content with 4th place, a bit behind. In the battle for second or third place, Rossi tries to lose Marquez in the corners. The latter, in turn, does everything to prevent this, because both know that the Honda would dominate on the home straight. On the last lap it remains exciting, but Rossi manages to maintain the gap and Marquez no longer manages to pass him on the home straight.

Thus, after 22 laps, this race ended with a dominant start-finish victory for Jorge Lorenzo, a strong-riding Valentino Rossi in second place, who managed to professionally correct the mistake in the first lap, and the third-placed debutant Marc Márquez, who fully convinced and left his teammate and vice world champion Dani Pedrosa behind. Behind them up to 10th place are Cal Crutchlow, Alvaro Bautista, Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies.

Conclusion

Jorge Lorenzo must continue to ride as he has shown in this race if he wants to defend his title. Valentino Rossi has clearly proven that he has a say in this year's title. Marc Márquez will try to break the dominance of the Yamaha team and shine himself as a laughing third. And then there is Dani Pedrosa for whom, also in view of his new ambitious talented teammate, this year it's now or never! These four riders seem to be the favorites this year.

Moto 2

Three Swiss are represented in this category. Randy Krummenacher, Dominique Aegerter and Tom Lüthi. Randy Krummenacher had the following to say about his teammate and compatriot Aegerter in an interview after the pre-race practice: "He's easy-going, I've learned a lot from him! It's nice when I can ride behind him, because of the line, but also the data score. He always wants to be in the top 5 and I want to be in the top 10."

The 23-year-old from Zurich starts the race from 24th place on the grid and plans a big catch-up. After the good training sessions three days earlier, he feels good. But a collision with a competitor on the first lap shatters his dream. Nevertheless, he manages to make up a few places and improve to 19th place. "For me, the race was basically already over on the first lap. I got through the first corner well, which as you know is not a given in Moto2, and then braked Turn Two very late. From my side, everything was clean and controlled, but unfortunately another rider in front of me suddenly almost came to a halt. Unfortunately, I couldn't avoid him and crashed into his rear. Fortunately we didn't crash, but my front tire was damaged in the collision. The front felt very unstable and so I was without a chance from the start today," he said after the race. Randy Krummenacher reaches his target. Starting from the second row, he shines in a dramatic finish with 4th place and just misses a podium place. His comment: "I missed the podium in the first two laps. I was fighting with opponents who are used to racing so far in front. I still lack a bit of experience. We hindered each other a lot in the chasing group and I knew I'd only get one chance to attack, and I knew exactly where. Fortunately, I succeeded in the maneuver."

The turbulent race is marked by many crashes. Louis Rossi, Axel Pons and Anthony West are the first to be hit. Mike Meglio collides with Mattia Pasini. Ricard Cardus is taken to the medical center and Ratthapark Wilairot also retires. The Japanese Nakagami leads the race first and defends his lead for eight laps until Scott Redding gets in front of him at the beginning of the ninth lap.

Six laps before the end of the race Scott Redding leads from Pol Espargaro, four seconds later they are followed by Takaaki Nakagami (JAP), Simone Corsi (ITA) , Dominique Aegerter (SUI), Julian Simon (ESP) and Esteve Rabat (ESP). In the following lap later Espargaro overtakes Redding, who does not let himself be left behind and studies the leader to make out an opportunity for revenge. With three laps to go, Aegerter works his way up to 4th place and the Italian Corsi loses three places and remains in 7th. On the penultimate lap, the Finn Mika Kallio passes Aegerter and relegates him back to 5th place. In the last lap the leading duo fights fiercely for victory. Redding tries to pass on the inside in turn 10, seems to touch lightly, skids and has to admit defeat. The chasing group remains close together in the home straight and a photo finish decides the classification.

The winner is Pol Espargaro (ESP), 2nd Scott Redding (GB), 3rd Takaaki Nakagami (JAP), 4th Dominique Aegerter (SUI), 5th Mika Kallio (FIN), 6th Julian Simon, 7th Simone Corsi, 8th Alex de Angelis (San Marino)), 9th Esteve Rabat (ESP), 10th Xavier Simeon (BEL).

Tom Lüthi cannot take part in the race due to injury. In view of this race outcome, a few surprises are still possible this season. How far the Swiss Tom Lüthi can intervene will be another exciting question in this competition.

Moto 3

The smallest cubic class is the first to start the deciding race on Sunday 7 April 2013, with Spaniards Alex Rins leading on lap 3 ahead of Luis Salom and Maverick Vinales. Salom is able to close in on the leader Rins on the long start-finish straight, and Rins again outruns him in the corners because he accelerates better coming out of the corners. On lap 6, Salom's persistence pays off and he takes the lead. Vinales remains in 3rd place. The German Jonas Folger and Alex Marquez ,the younger brother of Marc Marquez (Honda rider next to Dani Pedrosa) are fighting for 4th and 5th place. This group of 5 remains close together with greater distance to the rest of the field. In the 11th lap Marquez moves into 2nd place ahead of Rins. In a thrilling duel, Marquez fights for the lead in the meantime ahead of Rins, Salom and Vinales. On the penultimate lap, Rins is relegated to 4th place, again on the straight. The team still seems to have room for improvement. Vinales moved ahead of Marquez and on the last lap Salom takes the lead on the long straight and doesn't let anyone take the win from him. He is closely followed by Maverick Vinales in second place, Alex Rins in third and then Alex Marquez in fourth and Jonas Folger in fifth.

Considering the course of the race, the differences between the opponents are small. What the teams can achieve with an improved set-up will have an exciting effect on the season.