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Last-lap Qatar battle one of my best in MotoGP, says Rossi

Valentino Rossi says his last-lap Qatar Grand Prix battle with Andrea Dovizioso was among the greatest of his MotoGP career

Seven-time champion Rossi overcame Dovizioso's Ducati by a tenth of a second at Losail on Sunday night, inching out enough of an advantage on the infield on the last lap to fend off the Ducati's straightline speed advantage on the run to the flag.

QATAR REPORT: Rossi denies Dovizioso in thriller

"I put this battle at the top of my career," said Rossi.

"Dovi rode in a very clever way, but he was also very strong.

"He knew that he could win so he gave the maximum. He was aggressive.

"I think the best moment was braking for Turn 1, Dovi overtook me from outside, he went wide, he came back, but he stayed on the inside to the second corner, and I was able to exit faster and overtake him there.

"It was one of the best. I'd put this battle at the same level as battling with Jorge [Lorenzo] or [Marc] Marquez.

"I think it's one of the best races of my career and for sure one of the best battles on the last lap.

"I don't remember the last lap very well, I just remember that I was close to crashing two or three times.

"When I did the last corner and I didn't hear the noise of the Ducati, I could enjoy the moment before the line."

Rossi's victory came despite a poor first lap in which he dropped to 10th place from eighth on the grid.

He had always been confident Yamaha's race pace was stronger than its qualifying form, but admitted he had not helped himself on the opening lap.

"I knew that I couldn't lose too much time at the start, but unfortunately I was sleeping because I was in front of Andrea [Iannone] but after three corners he was third and I was 10th. I don't know what happened," Rossi said.

"But I overtook the slower riders. When I'd overtaken [Yonny] Hernandez, on the first lap alone I did a 1m55.2s, so I said 'wow, not so bad, I can do it'."

World champion Marc Marquez only finished fifth after going off on lap one and falling to last.

Rossi said he had feared Marquez would still catch up and beat him, before the Honda's pace dropped off once it reached the top five.

"At the first corner I saw Marquez go wide and I knew it was a special moment and a good chance to win," he said.

"I had a difficult moment where I was behind Andrea and I wasn't able to overtake, and I saw on the board that Marquez had arrived and I said 'f***, again...'

"Then [later] I saw it was still Andrea behind, and I thought maybe Marc had crashed. It's good, it means that at the second part of the race we were faster."

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