The 2015 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix was the first round of the 2015 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Losail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar on 29 March 2015.
In the MotoGP class, Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso took the first pole position of the season. It was an eventful race in which the lead was contested between the Movistar Yamaha and Ducati teams. For the first time since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, the podium was swept by Italian riders, as Yamaha's Valentino Rossi – in his 20th Grand Prix season – took his first season-opening victory since 2010, ahead of Dovizioso, and his teammate Andrea Iannone, who achieved his first MotoGP podium in third place. Reigning world champion Marc Márquez had a good start position, third on the grid, but went off track and almost hit Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith. After he fell to the rear of the field due to the first-lap incident, Márquez overtook several riders and was able to finish fifth, behind Lorenzo.
Dani Pedrosa started second on the grid, but dropped to sixth place due to issues with arm-pump. Álvaro Bautista was forced to retire after his bike was hit by Márquez, breaking his left brake lever and front sensor. Rookie Jack Miller – graduating from Moto3 – crashed with Karel Abraham with one lap remaining.
The weekend also saw the début of the new Aprilia RS-GP, which was used by Gresini Racing after the team switched from Honda at the end of 2014. This was Aprilia's first race in MotoGP as a factory team since the 2004 Valencian Grand Prix.
Classification MotoGP Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 46 Valentino Rossi Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 22 42:35.717 8 25 2 04 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team Ducati 22 +0.174 1 20 3 29 Andrea Iannone Ducati Team Ducati 22 +2.250 4 16 4 99 Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 22 +2.707 6 13 5 93 Marc Márquez Repsol Honda Team Honda 22 +7.036 3 11 6 26 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 22 +10.755 2 10 7 35 Cal Crutchlow CWM LCR Honda Honda 22 +12.384 12 9 8 38 Bradley Smith Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 22 +12.914 7 8 9 44 Pol Espargaró Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 22 +13.031 10 7 10 68 Yonny Hernández Pramac Racing Ducati 22 +17.435 5 6 11 41 Aleix Espargaró Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 22 +19.901 11 5 12 9 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 22 +24.432 9 4 13 45 Scott Redding EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 22 +32.032 14 3 14 25 Maverick Viñales Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 22 +33.463 13 2 15 8 Héctor Barberá Avintia Racing Ducati 22 +33.625 15 1 16 6 Stefan Bradl Athinà Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 22 +33.944 18 17 69 Nicky Hayden Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 22 +38.970 17 18 50 Eugene Laverty Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 22 +46.570 19 19 63 Mike Di Meglio Avintia Racing Ducati 22 +59.211 16 20 15 Alex de Angelis Octo IodaRacing Team ART 22 +1:14.981 24 21 33 Marco Melandri Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 22 +1:48.143 25 22 76 Loris Baz Athinà Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 19 +3 laps 23 Ret 17 Karel Abraham AB Motoracing Honda 21 Accident 20 Ret 43 Jack Miller CWM LCR Honda Honda 21 Accident 22 Ret 19 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 0 Retirement 21 Sources:
Moto2 Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 94 Jonas Folger Kalex 20 40:18.532 5 25 2 19 Xavier Siméon Kalex 20 +5.051 6 20 3 12 Thomas Lüthi Kalex 20 +12.123 7 16 4 40 Álex Rins Kalex 20 +12.202 9 13 5 21 Franco Morbidelli Kalex 20 +14.385 8 11 6 36 Mika Kallio Kalex 20 +14.413 16 10 7 11 Sandro Cortese Kalex 20 +14.471 4 9 8 5 Johann Zarco Kalex 20 +18.541 2 8 9 96 Louis Rossi Tech 3 20 +20.914 13 7 10 7 Lorenzo Baldassarri Kalex 20 +21.336 20 6 11 73 Álex Márquez Kalex 20 +21.847 12 5 12 55 Hafizh Syahrin Kalex 20 +23.226 19 4 13 60 Julián Simón Speed Up 20 +25.573 21 3 14 30 Takaaki Nakagami Kalex 20 +29.784 18 2 15 77 Dominique Aegerter Kalex 20 +30.267 25 1 16 23 Marcel Schrötter Tech 3 20 +34.561 17 17 4 Randy Krummenacher Kalex 20 +36.850 24 18 25 Azlan Shah Kalex 20 +48.346 23 19 10 Thitipong Warokorn Kalex 20 +48.772 26 20 70 Robin Mulhauser Kalex 20 +49.670 28 21 66 Florian Alt Suter 20 +1:15.596 30 22 2 Jesko Raffin Kalex 20 +1:15.641 29 23 51 Zaqhwan Zaidi Suter 20 +1:21.693 27 Ret 88 Ricard Cardús Tech 3 19 Retirement 14 Ret 95 Anthony West Speed Up 9 Retirement 22 Ret 3 Simone Corsi Kalex 3 Accident 10 Ret 1 Tito Rabat Kalex 3 Accident 3 Ret 39 Luis Salom Kalex 3 Accident 15 Ret 49 Axel Pons Kalex 3 Accident 11 Ret 22 Sam Lowes Speed Up 2 Retirement 1OFFICIAL MOTO2 REPORT
Moto3 Pos. No. Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 10 Alexis Masbou Honda 18 38:25.424 1 25 2 33 Enea Bastianini Honda 18 +0.027 21 20 3 52 Danny Kent Honda 18 +0.142 9 16 4 7 Efrén Vázquez Honda 18 +0.288 10 13 5 17 John McPhee Honda 18 +0.693 5 11 6 32 Isaac Viñales Husqvarna 18 +0.765 2 10 7 20 Fabio Quartararo Honda 18 +0.772 6 9 8 23 Niccolò Antonelli Honda 18 +0.773 3 8 9 21 Francesco Bagnaia Mahindra 18 +0.909 4 7 10 41 Brad Binder KTM 18 +1.317 13 6 11 55 Andrea Locatelli Honda 18 +1.546 7 5 12 9 Jorge Navarro Honda 18 +1.608 12 4 13 98 Karel Hanika KTM 18 +1.869 14 3 14 65 Philipp Öttl KTM 18 +2.504 22 2 15 88 Jorge Martín Mahindra 18 +5.119 25 1 16 44 Miguel Oliveira KTM 18 +6.814 8 17 84 Jakub Kornfeil KTM 18 +8.760 26 18 58 Juan Francisco Guevara Mahindra 18 +9.259 24 19 40 Darryn Binder Mahindra 18 +11.385 20 20 95 Jules Danilo Honda 18 +27.616 18 21 12 Matteo Ferrari Mahindra 18 +29.071 30 22 6 María Herrera Husqvarna 18 +29.266 32 23 24 Tatsuki Suzuki Mahindra 18 +29.436 31 24 16 Andrea Migno KTM 18 +29.485 29 25 19 Alessandro Tonucci Mahindra 18 +29.770 23 26 53 Marco Bezzecchi Mahindra 18 +46.295 33 27 91 Gabriel Rodrigo KTM 18 +46.406 27 28 63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin KTM 18 +1:04.409 28 29 61 Loris Cresson KTM 18 +1:40.606 34 Ret 5 Romano Fenati KTM 17 Retirement 17 Ret 11 Livio Loi Honda 10 Accident 11 Ret 76 Hiroki Ono Honda 8 Accident 15 Ret 2 Remy Gardner Mahindra 8 Accident 19 Ret 31 Niklas Ajo KTM 1 Accident 16 OFFICIAL MOTO3 REPORT
Championship standings after the race (MotoGP) Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.
Riders' Championship standings Rider Points 1 Valentino Rossi 25 2 Andrea Dovizioso 20 3 Andrea Iannone 16 4 Jorge Lorenzo 13
Constructors' Championship standings Constructor Points 1 Yamaha 25 2 Ducati 20 3 Honda 11 4 Suzuki 5
Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 38 2 Ducati Team 36 3 Repsol Honda Team 21 4 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 15
Note: Only the top four positions are included for all sets of standings.
References