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Qatar MotoGP season opener

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Rossi is now right behind his arch-rival too - what a race this has been so far!
Vinales now puts the Yamaha into second place with a textbook pass on Marquez.
That promotes Vinales to third, Rossi to fourth and Pedrosa to fifth.
The Suzuki rider just got a tiny bit off line as he went on the attack against Marquez, and he paid the price.
Dovizioso now with a second in hand as we reach the halfway mark, Marquez still clinging on to second for now with Iannone and Vinales right on his tail.
We're almost at half-distance by the way, this is Lap 10 out of 20 now.
Vinales and Rossi are also catching up behind, we could soon have a four-way fight for second here!
Iannone and Marquez continue their fight, it's the latter who moves ahead at Turn 1 but both riders are now 0.7s down on Dovizioso.
Aleix Espargaro also has the Aprilia up to ninth, which is no mean feat.
Pedrosa gets promoted to sixth ahead of Miller, who is our new top satellite man.
A shame for the Aspar man, who was the top independent after Zarco's demise.
Iannone hasn't given up the fight, he's back through on Marquez and into P2.
Zarco is back in the Tech3 pits, being consoled by his crew. But what a performance while it lasted.
Lorenzo has made a little bit of progress, he's in the points and up to P12.
Vinales is P4, then it's Rossi, Bautista, Pedrosa, Miller, Redding and Alex Rins in P10 on his MotoGP debut.
The Moto2 champion had a lead of 1.6s in hand - but it all goes to waste as the Tech3 bike slides out underneath him and into the gravel.
And Crutchlow crashes again! What a start to the year for last year's top satellite rider.
Worth noting our top two are both using the soft rear tyre, by the way. Will it go the distance?
Dovizioso meanwhile clears Marquez to move up to second. Can the Ducati rider do anything about the flying Frenchman?
Vinales is struggling here - he's got his teammate Rossi for company now, as the top four get further ahead. Zarco still in command after five laps with a lead of 1.3s.
First crasher of the night - it's Cal Crutchlow at Turn 16.
Vinales starting to drop off the leading quartet now, surprisingly. Zarco still leads, with 0.7s over Marquez.
Life not getting any easier for Lorenzo either, the Ducati debutant is still 16th behind Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia.
For anyone wondering, the KTMs are 21st and 22nd, Pol Espargaro leading Bradley Smith.
Zarco showing no signs of faltering here, as Dovizioso picks off Iannone along the main straight to move up into third place.
The top five are making a break here, Pedrosa and Rossi are losing touch in sixth and seventh. Bautista, Redding and Miller complete the top 10.
While Zarco leads, his Tech3 teammate Jonas Folger is down in 17th behind Lorenzo.
Zarco leads as they begin Lap 3, Marquez is back past Iannone. Dovizioso and Vinales still close behind.
Nervous faces on the Tech3 Yamaha pitwall, as Iannone dives past Marquez to retake second.
Shout-out for Jack Miller, who runs 10th after the opening lap.
Zarco - in his first ever MotoGP race, remember - has Marquez all over the back of him now.

By: Mitchell Adam

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