S1, E1: World Champion Marc Marquez started his MotoGP title defence with a victory in Qatar, beating Valentino Rossi in a close battle, leaving Dani Pedrosa coming home third. During the race, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Jorge Lorenzo crashed out of the lead at turn 15 on the first lap, meaning his season starts with a DNF after he had struggled with grip issues throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, after eight laps the race was over for Stefan Bradl who had led the contest for several circulations. Coming from seventh on the grid and taking advantage of Lorenzo's crash and some errors ahead of him, Bradl was writing headlines for LCR Honda but perhaps the pressure of Marquez and Rossi on his shoulder was too much, as the German slid off track.