MotoGP Qatar: Rossi: 'They beat us, but we are strong'.

Valentino Rossi was forced to settle for fourth place in Sunday night's Qatar MotoGP season-opener, despite crossing the line just 2.387s from victorious Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. While Rossi and third place Marc Marquez opted for the harder of the rear compounds during Michelin's first race as exclusive tyre supplier, Lorenzo and runner-up Andrea Dovizioso opted for the soft. Was that the difference between them? Rossi wasn't sure. 

“Unfortunately, I don't have any more than this,” declared the Italian, who remained in fourth place from lap 6, when Andrea Iannone fell, until lap 22. 

“I was strong, but not strong enough to try one attack. I did not have one sector, one braking, one part where I was faster than the guys in front of me. I was always there, but always ten metres behind. This was the problem. 

“It's very important to understand the rear tyre choice, because I don't know if with the soft I can be more competitive. Because me and Marquez with the hard, it looks like we suffer a bit more compared to Lorenzo and Dovizioso. 

“But this is not sure. Maybe I put the soft and I would have gone slower. Anyway they beat us, we are behind. But we are strong.” 

Rossi's race time was 4.878s quicker than he set on his way to victory in 2015, with Lorenzo finally breaking Casey Stoner's 2008 lap record. 

“Sincerely, the pace was a surprise,” Rossi said. “Because it was a great pace. A very fast race, faster than last year. Nobody expected it. This means that Michelin did a very good job, and also the electronics are good. 

“Like with the tyres, with the electronics we expect more difference, to struggle more. But already with three tests, all the manufacturers improved a lot. And also the electronics are a little bit less, but anyway they work very well. 

“I hope for some more fight in the race, because maybe it was better last year, with more overtaking. This year was more one behind the other. But anyway, it's not so bad. It's better to arrive fourth, two-seconds from first, than arrive second or third and be ten seconds behind.” 

While the top four riders – from Yamaha, Ducati and Honda - were closely matched in terms of race time, the Desmosedicis of Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone led the opening eight laps of the race and again boasted blistering top speed. 

Is Ducati a real threat for the championship? 

“Why not?” Rossi replied. “They are fast from the beginning to the end, they have very good top speed, like we know, but also in the corners, they are very fast. I think also Iannone, if he didn't crash, can stay there to the end. So I think that also Ducati is very strong.” 

Source: http://www.crash.net

1. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 42m 28.452s

2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16) 42m 30.471s

3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 30.739s

4. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 42m 30.839s

5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 42m 42.535s

6. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 42m 43.875s

7. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 47.081s

8. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 42m 47.104s

9. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) 42m 49.612s

10. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15) 42m 52.887s

11. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 43m 4.299s

12. Eugene Laverty IRL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) 43m 10.208s

13. Alvaro Bautista ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 43m 10.384s

14. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 43m 10.434s

15. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V)* 43m 23.405s

Stefan Bradl GER Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF

Loris Baz FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF

Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) DNF

Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16) DNF

Yonny Hernandez COL Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP14.2) DNF