Repsol Honda Team RC213V riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa finished sixth and seventh in the floodlit Qatar GP, fighting back from a troubled start to an exciting race with a thrilling climax.

Both factory riders had started from the front row of the grid, but chances of following up with similar top-three finishes were scuppered from the start.

Defending champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) had a nightmare first lap. Winner here last year – the first of a classic ten-in-a-row run – the 22-year-old star was caught up in a tangle in the first corner, and was obliged to run wide and off the track to avoid a race-ending collision.

Marquez dropped right to the back, and immediately set about recovering ground, scything through the backmarkers, then picking his way through a fierce mid-field battle.

He had caught and passed his team-mate Pedrosa just after half distance; but could get no further ... the gap to the leaders finally proving unbridgeable.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) also had a difficult first lap. He picked up places steadily, up to fifth on the sixth of 22 laps of the 5.38-km Losail circuit. But by then the front four were already out of reach, and although he could match their speed, he was unable to close the gap.

His situation was made more difficult by the return of serious arm-pump problems that blighted his results last season, and required corrective surgery early that was only partially successful. Pedrosa pledged to seek a more permanent solution, throwing doubt on his immediate racing future. The Repsol Honda Team pledged to give their loyal long-term rider the fullest support in his quest for a cure.

It was not the hoped-for result at the first of 18 races, but both riders proved their strength and the speed of their machines in spite of the adversity that blunted their challenge. With a full season ahead, motivation is reinforced by early adversity.

The race was won by veteran former World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), finally prevailing in an exciting last-laps battle with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati). Dovizioso’s team-mate Andrea Iannone was a close third, narrowly ahead of early leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).

The Repsol Honda pair finished just five seconds behind the leaders.

Two other riders campaign the Factory Option Honda RC213V. Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda RC213V) made it three in the top ten, finishing seventh after triumphing in a strong battle for the position.

Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) was 13th, still seeking the best machine balance in his first attempt on the awesomely powerful factory Honda.

Four others race the upgraded Honda RC213V-RS, in the Open category, where a lower technical specification is traded off with softer tires and extra fuel.

2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden (Aspar Team Honda RC213V-RS) finished the strongest, placed 17th, with team-mate Eugene Laverty 18th. Karel Abraham (AB Motoracing Honda RC213V-RS) and class rookie Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda RC213V-RS) did not finish, after a last-lap tangle put them both on the ground.

The next race, in two weeks, is the Grand Prix of the Americas, at the COTA circuit at Austin, Texas, followed one week later by the Argentine GP.




Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team: 5th

“We should be happy because we have salvaged eleven important points, when we could easily have left here with none. It was a tough race, in which I made a mistake at the first corner and dropped back to last place. This meant that I had to make a comeback, pushing hard all through the race, but in the end I saw that I could not catch the group at the front. The positive that I’ll take from today is that we rode at a similar pace to the lead group. In Austin we will continue to work hard, with an even stronger desire to do well.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team: 6th

“Tonight’s race didn’t go to plan and unfortunately, I had serious problems with my right forearm which isn’t good news for me. I worked very hard over the winter in order to find a solution, because I was suffering in every race last season. Every doctor recommended that I should not undergo another operation and I have tried to look for alternatives, but by the looks of things nothing is working positively. Now I have to assess my options and see what I can do. It is probably the most difficult moment of my career. I will do my best to find a solution but in this moment it is difficult to imagine what it could be.”

Cal Crutchlow, CWM LCR: 7th

“I think to come away with a seventh place we can be very happy. It was a good start to the season considering I don’t have any experience racing the Honda. The guys I was battling with have been riding a factory Honda for a lot longer than me, and we all saw that they struggled too. Being just over a second behind Dani Pedrosa and five behind Marc Marquez shows that we were all struggling for rear grip tonight in Qatar. I think this was about our pace for the weekend anyway, and I made it hard for myself with some mistakes early on in the race, but my pace was consistently good. If I had have got away with the guys in front I could possibly have been around fourth or fifth.”

Scott Redding, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS: 13th

“It was a tough race and certainly not where I expected to be finishing. The target was to finish inside the top 10, so I can’t be happy to be 13th. We are making steps in the right direction but not enough to bring us closer to our target. Turning is the biggest issue and we need to focus on that because I should be finishing much higher up on the package I am riding. We’ve collected a lot of data and I finished in the points, but it is clear there is plenty of room to improve.”

Nicky Hayden, Aspar Team: 17th

“I got a reasonable start, and had a decent ride going, considering where we’ve been all week and through testing. I was able to make up a couple of positions and was doing quite good ... was the first Open bike for a long time. I pushed really hard trying to catch Redding, and he was coming back to me at times and I was hoping to get on the back of him, but we used up a lot of tire. Everybody had a big drop in tires here, but we had struggled a lot with electronics when the tire did go off. The bike was cutting a lot, even when I had it straight up and down. A lot of work for 17th place and no points. Anyway we learned a lot that I think we can use going forward. The team did a good job with the chassis, but we need more with the electronics. It’s clear we need to work a lot with Honda to make the bike better on used tires, and also with Magneti Marelli with these electronics.”

Eugene Laverty, Aspar Team: 18th

“Due to an electronics issue, the bike didn’t know where it was on the track, so I wasn’t able to ride it anywhere near where I wanted. It was different every lap: sometimes on the straight I had full power, sometimes it would cut back. I was having to short-shift, and the traction control was all up the pole. It was like that right from the start. The first two corners I didn’t notice it, but from the third it was like the handbrake was on. Until then, this weekend was pretty flawless. It’s not where it should have been today, but some days are like that.”

Karel Abraham, AB Motoracing: DNF

“This race has confirmed to be really hard for all open spec bikes and riders as only few of us got some points. The first part of the race was going well but then the bike began to lose a grip and I could not keep the pace with Stefan Bradl nor fight with him. Then during the last lap Jack Miller tried to overtake me at maximum risk and took me down quite hard. My bike is damaged a lot and I am quite bruised. He realized that he had made a mistake and he came to our garage after the race to apologize. Fortunately it happened in race where I was not chasing points.”

Jack Miller, CWM LCR: DNF

“It was a difficult race for us. We got off to a good start and I was going quite good. I made a few mistakes and got a little too tight on the bike but finally got myself back together when we were close to last. After that I really started to work, and closed the gap to the other Open bikes. It was working really well, we pulled up and I passed two guys and then caught up Abraham. When I got there I was in too much of a rush to pass and went too deep and lost the front. Unfortunately it took myself and him out. Being on the last lap it was a shame not to finish the race, but we learnt so much and I look forward to carrying on the learning process in Texas.”