Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex's Pol Espargaro and Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex's Scott Redding had a thrilling duel in the Honda-powered Moto2 race, the outcome in doubt until the penultimate corner.
In the end Espargaro had a fraction more speed than Redding, which took him across the finish line 0.844 seconds in front.
Starting from pole, Espargaro took the lead from Redding for the first time on lap 16 of 20. Redding tried everything he knows to get by, especially on the last lap when he had to close the throttle to avoid a collision with his Spanish rival.
This was Espargaro‰Ûªs fifth Moto2 win.
‰ÛÏStarting the season with a victory is a great relief, especially after a difficult weekend that included a crash during qualifying." Espargaro stated. "The team did a great job and the race went well ‰ÛÒ I even learned a few secrets while I was behind Redding and Nakagami.
"In the early stages I could run the leader‰Ûªs pace and then luckily I had the speed to catch Redding. On the last lap I had to try very hard to make sure I won ‰ÛÒ at one point I even saw Redding‰Ûªs front wheel on my left.
"We worked hard and gave it everything we had this weekend, so to come away with a win and pole position is great, the joy is huge," he concluded.
Redding‰Ûªs second place equalled his best result in the class.
‰ÛÏI‰Ûªm happy to get the season started with a podium here in Qatar." Redding stated. "I lost the clutch on the sighting lap, which is a problem we had in practice and qualifying.
"The guys managed to fix it on the grid, but it was not right for the first few laps and the bike was really aggressive on corner entry. In the end I just feathered the clutch going into the turns until it sorted itself out.
"I was not expecting to lead here, so I did not really have a plan once I got to the front, other than to keep a good rhythm and maintain my pace. It was a good battle with Pol.
"I thought I had him on the last lap, but he‰Ûªs a tough rider and I could not quite make it through. Next time I know to try that little bit harder to push him into a mistake.
"Thanks to the team for their hard work, and thanks also to Marc van der Straten for his support. Redding concluded
Takaaki Nakagami racing for Italtrans Racing Team Kalex, led the early stages before settling into a lonely third place for his first Grand Prix podium; some way behind the two leaders and some way ahead of a frantic 11-man contest for fourth place.
‰ÛÏMy plan was simple: push at the maximum from the start and try to open a gap." Nakagami explained "We knew from experience that when tyre performance dropped we would have some chattering from the front, but being fast from the start was our plan for pursuing victory.
"Anyway, I‰Ûªm happy ‰ÛÒ this is my first Grand Prix podium, the bike is working great and I feel in really great shape. The feeling I had with the bike during the first laps was amazing," he added.
Fourth place finally went to Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert Suter) who took the flag a fraction of a second ahead of Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex), Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex) and the rest. Just 3.5 seconds separated the group, from fourth to 14th.
Unfortunately for Australia's Anthony West he was unable to finish the opening race of the season after a crash put an end to his race.
