DOHA (Reuters) -Ducati’s Marc Marquez returned to the top step of the podium with victory at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday despite suffering damage to his bike in a collision with his brother Alex on the first lap.
Marc, who had taken his fourth straight pole with a lap record as well as a fourth sprint victory on Saturday, won at the Lusail International Circuit for the first time since 2014.
Red Bull KTM’s Maverick Vinales was second, pending an investigation for tyre pressure infringements, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia came third ahead of VR46 Racing’s Franco Morbidelli, who briefly led the race early on.
Victory moved Marc up to 123 points at the top of the rider’s standings, 18 points ahead of Alex while Bagnaia is third on 93 points.
“I needed to manage the front tyres, so for that reason in the first part of the race I was quiet,” Marc said.
“Morbidelli was going (ahead) but I predicted or I understood yesterday with the rhythms that he will be not fast in the second part of the race.
“Big surprise when Maverick overtook me. I thought it was (Pedro) Acosta because normally he is the fastest on KTM. He was super fast, but I had that margin for the end. Victory in Qatar is amazing.”
LAP ONE COLLISION
Marc had another perfect start off the line to take the lead into turn one but contact with Gresini Racing’s Alex led to damage on the back of Marc’s bike and Morbidelli, who had started fourth on the grid, capitalised to surge into the lead.
Alex did not fare any better and the Spaniard was involved in another collision, this time with VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio which saw both riders lose positions.
Alex immediately put his hand up to apologise and the stewards gave him a long lap penalty that dropped him down to 12th, putting an end to any hopes of a podium having finished second in every sprint and race this season.
Bagnaia and Marc then swapped positions while battling for second, using each other’s slipstream to overtake, while Vinales on the Red Bull KTM also moved up to third.
But Marc was clearly struggling without one fin and another flapping loosely in the wind as Vinales out-braked the six-times champion at turn one to take second place.
Vinales then set his sights on Morbidelli and the KTM rider took the lead on the main straight with 12 laps left while Marc and Bagnaia also found their way past the yellow VR46 bike.
Defending MotoGP champion Jorge Martin was competing in his first race of the season after returning from injuries but the Aprilia rider went down at the kerb on turn 11 and did not finish.
Up front, Marc finally regained the lead for the first time since lap one when Vinales ran wide and allowed his compatriot to move up a place with seven laps left.
That was all Marc needed in the business end of the race as he decided there was no more need to conserve his tyres, setting back-to-back fastest laps to open up a gap on Vinales before cruising to the chequered flag.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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