Yamaha newcomer, Maverick Viñales, rode to victory after a very intense race where conditions triggered uncertainty throughout the weekend, forcing the qualifying session to be cancelled and the starting positions for the race be determined according to Free Practice 3 times. The race itself had to be delayed after rain hit the track causing even more uncertainty over grip levels and which tire to pick or to call it in a more adequate way, which tire to gamble on…
The big surprise of the race was not the grip level, it was the pace of French rider Johann Zarco that took the lead with a fast start and kept it for 6 laps until he fell off the race on lap 6 when he came barely off the line under braking. Conditions were anything but easy, the racing line was very narrow and a few riders abandoned due to falls, including Cal Crutchlow who fell once and rejoined and fell again being the first victim of a changing track. The fight at the front was intense, Viñales seemed unable to keep the pace of Zarco, Marc Marquez in the Honda, Andrea Iannone in the Suzuki and Andrea Dovizioso in the Ducati, at least in the first laps when these riders kept the fight for the second position. Zarco fell on lap 6, Dovizioso made his way past these riders to take the lead and held it until lap 14 when a resurgent Viñales came back to the fight, Iannone had a similar fall, loosing the front of his bike after a strong showing when fighting for the lead, Marquez could not keep the pace after Viñales found his and passed him after the mid point of the race along with Valentino Rossi who joined the fight.
The second surprise of the race, I would say, was Aleix Espargaró, the Spaniard riding the Aprilia officially for the first time in MotoGP, coming from 15th on the grid he took on a steady but aggressive pace passing several riders and fighting it out in the end with Dani Pedrosa in the other Repsol Honda receiving the checkered flag in P6. The fight in the front meanwhile was extraordinary, Dovizioso simply did not want to finish 2nd place again in Qatar, he wanted the win and even though the Ducati had more high end speed, the Yamaha looked better on certain other corners, not many, Viñales tried a couple of times, he overtook the Ducati but was overtaken again, very entertaining fight and finally Viñales managed to make the pass and pull out enough ground for it to be impossible for Dovizioso to grab the position back again in the last lap (20th). Rossi completed the podium, happy to have been able to keep his new team mate´s pace in the race, after a not so good testing and practicing. 4th was for Marquez, who lost pace in the end and couldn´t keep up with the fight for the win, 5th was for his team mate Pedrosa and 6th for the impressive Espargaró in the Aprilia.
Weather had its influence in what was a very delightful race to watch, let´s see what happens in Argentina, for the 2nd of the Championship in a couple of weeks. Full results, click here.