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Meanwhile, Lorenzo is back into the top 10 at the expense of Jack Miller, and Vinales is likely to follow suit soon.
Dovizioso up to second, slipstreaming past Marquez on the main straight. Zarco will be hearing the Jaws theme at the back of his mind.
A front-tyre wobble for Rossi, who's now having to fend off Crutchlow, Petrucci, Rins and Pedrosa.
And now Dovizioso divebombs Rossi for third. They switch positions two more times in two corners, but Dovizioso remains ahead.
Rossi slipstreams alongside Zarco on the main straight, but backs out, runs wide and yields position to Marquez.
Stopwatch
The pace has picked up, by the way, and the leading pack is now logging mid-1m55s. Alex Rins' 1m55.333s effort stands as the quickest of the race.
Rossi has a look down the inside of Zarco at Turn 1, but is not forcing a move yet. But you wouldn't envy Zarco, especially knowing there's another 14 laps that he has to hold out for.
Dovizioso has passed Petrucci and Crutchlow to move up to fourth.
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Vinales informed on the dashboard that he has Aleix Espargaro behind. Bit of a 2016 throwback.
There's now a seven-bike lead group, featuring Zarco, Rossi, Marquez, Petrucci, Crutchlow, Dovizioso and Rins. Pedrosa has dropped off somewhat but is still in touch.
Big-name strugglers watch: Lorenzo is 11th, Vinales is 13th. Between them is today's highest-placed debutant - reigning Moto2 champ Franco Morbidelli - who must be feeling pretty good about life right now.
Rossi pounces on Marquez for second, allowing the fellow Yamaha of Zarco some breathing room.
Zarco continues to be hounded by Marquez out front, but he's hanging on. This is very much anyone's game still, as the top 10 are all bunched up.
Dovizioso is passed for sixth over Pedrosa, who is not having the best time out there.
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Current order: 1 Zarco; 2 Marquez; 3 Rossi; 4 Petrucci; 5 Crutchlow; 6 Pedrosa; 7 Dovizioso; 8 Rins; 9 Iannone; 10 Miller; 11 Lorenzo; 12 Morbidelli; 13 A Espargaro; 14 Vinales; 15 Smith; 16 Syahrin; 17 Rabat; 18 P Espargaro; 19 Abraham; 20 Bautista; 21 Redding; 22 Luthi; 23 Nakagami; 24 Simeon.
Petrucci is past Pedrosa for fourth, in the meantime. Dovizioso is seventh, and there's a bit of a gap forming between him and sixth-placed Crutchlow.
It's not a terribly quick race so far. with most lapping in low-1m56s. They were faster than that in FP4 and warm-up.
Rossi takes care of Pedrosa down the inside of Turn 1 for third place.
No obvious lead group forming so far, as Zarco is hanging on to the lead. Rossi is putting pressure on Pedrosa for third.
Jorge Lorenzo and Maverick Vinales are having a torrid time out there, both outside the top 10.
Zarco wide at the final corner and Marquez takes the lead - but Zarco slipstreams past him again.
Zarco leads from Marquez, Pedrosa, Rossi. Dovizioso has slipped down to eighth place.
Good start by Marquez, who looks to lead down the inside of Turn 1 - but Zarco hangs on on the outside.
Green flag
The 2018 MotoGP season is underway!
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Tyre selection news - the top 12 have all opted for medium front and soft rear, apart from Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa (hard front, soft rear) and Danilo Petrucci (soft-soft). Formation lap underway.
Maverick Vinales has been rather markedly off the pace in almost every session this weekend. Yet his FP4 long run was rock solid, and could make him an outside contender.
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In lower category news, the Moto3 race was the expected duel between pre-season favourites Jorge Martin and Aron Canet, with the former prevailing by the narrowest margin.
The Moto2 race went to Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia of Valentino Rossi's Sky VR46 team. Bagnaia, of course, already has a Pramac Ducati MotoGP deal for 2019 and 2020 – and it's becoming increasingly clear why.
The Moto2 race went to Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia of Valentino Rossi's Sky VR46 team. Bagnaia, of course, already has a Pramac Ducati MotoGP deal for 2019 and 2020 – and it's becoming increasingly clear why.
It was Marquez who topped the daytime pre-race warm-up session, over Dovizioso and Petrucci. Just how representative that session will be of the evening race is anyone's guess, but Petrucci – who has been repeatedly spotlighted as a dark horse for the win here – managed an impressively consistent run. 
Zarco produced a storming lap on Saturday to smash the track record and clinch pole position - but uneven race pace could thwart him in his quest for a maiden MotoGP win.
But, as our race pace analysis shows, a Dovizioso victory is far from a foregone conclusion. 
Zarco might be on pole, but most people's favourite seems to be Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso – who has been runner-up here for three years in a row, has strong race pace and topped FP1, FP2 and FP4. 
The Qatar venue's a very specific track, so while today's race will be definitely meaningful - especially from a psychological standpoint - it won't answer all the questions that still remain about how MotoGP will pan out in 2018.
Last time the Qatar GP winner went on to claim the title that year was Marc Marquez in 2014. Of course, he followed that win up with another nine in a row.
Marquez is still almost certainly the category's top rider, but it is remarkable how much more competitive the series has gotten in the short time since then.
Last time the Qatar GP winner went on to claim the title that year was Marc Marquez in 2014. Of course, he followed that win up with another nine in a row.
Marquez is still almost certainly the category's top rider, but it is remarkable how much more competitive the series has gotten in the short time since then.
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Grid:
1 Johann Zarco
2 Marc Marquez
3 Danilo Petrucci
4 Cal Crutchlow
5 Andrea Dovizioso
6 Alex Rins
7 Dani Pedrosa
8 Valentino Rossi
9 Jorge Lorenzo
10 Jack Miller
11 Andrea Iannone
12 Maverick Vinales
13 Aleix Espargaro
14 Franco Morbidelli
15 Hafizh Syahrin
16 Tito Rabat
17 Scott Redding
18 Thomas Luthi
19 Karel Abraham
20 Bradley Smith
21 Alvaro Bautista
22 Pol Espargaro
23 Takaaki Nakagami
24 Xavier Simeon
1 Johann Zarco
2 Marc Marquez
3 Danilo Petrucci
4 Cal Crutchlow
5 Andrea Dovizioso
6 Alex Rins
7 Dani Pedrosa
8 Valentino Rossi
9 Jorge Lorenzo
10 Jack Miller
11 Andrea Iannone
12 Maverick Vinales
13 Aleix Espargaro
14 Franco Morbidelli
15 Hafizh Syahrin
16 Tito Rabat
17 Scott Redding
18 Thomas Luthi
19 Karel Abraham
20 Bradley Smith
21 Alvaro Bautista
22 Pol Espargaro
23 Takaaki Nakagami
24 Xavier Simeon
In case you need a refresher, here's the story of how Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco came out on top in an exhilarating qualifying session yesterday: 
Hello and welcome to live coverage of MotoGP's 2018 season-opening race, which will kick off soon under the lights at Qatar's Losail International Circuit.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Lap:
