2018 began in the closest possible way across all classes at the Qatar GP, with every race going down to the wire. The last laps of Moto3™, Moto2™ and MotoGP™ were all thrillers, and the combined gap across all classes? Just 0.162 seconds.
Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) vs Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) opened the season with a stunning drag to the line in the slipstreaming battle of Moto3™…
…and then Moto2™ was another duel, this time between Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP 40), with the 2017 Rookie of the Year coming out on top.
That was after some drama for the polesitter Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), as the 2014 Moto3™ Champion’s rear brake disc lit up Losail.
Finally, in the premier class, it was an immediate classic. Opening the season in style, it was a third last lap, last corner attack from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) on Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), and it was a third win for the Italian.
First came Austria…
…and then Japan, in the rain…
Before 2018 opened with the same bang!
It was also another record-breaking race in terms of the top fifteen, too. 2017 already set the standard with a succession of closest ever points scorers, but 2018 began by smashing that again – with the top fifteen over the line covered by just 23.287 seconds.