Rain, delays, uncertainty and a decision for a slightly shortened race distance prefaced the 20 laps that then blew the drama out the water: MotoGP™ is back for 2017, and in some style. After stealing the headlines throughout preseason, Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) retains them after his first win for Yamaha – but easy it wasn’t, as the polesitter fought it out with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in an awesome desert duel. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) completed the podium in third after coming back from P10 on the grid.

MotoGP has a tendency to keep making history of late, and the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina was no different - as Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) became the first Yamaha rider since Wayne Rainey in 1990 to win the first two races of the year, taking a stunning win as drama hit the grid behind. Teammate Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) created another miracle in P2, with LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow completing the podium in style as top Independent Team rider.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) initially fought it out with teammate Dani Pedrosa for victory in the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, before being able to break clear in the latter laps of the race to take his stunning fifth win in a row in Austin – his 11th straight win on US soil in an incredible statistic. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) then put on a late charge to take second, with Pedrosa completing the podium – and former Championship leader Maverick Viñales crashing out early on.

Dani Pedrosa took an impervious victory in his home Gran Premio Red Bull de España, storming away from his first pole position since Sepang 2015 and never looking back. The MotoGP race in Jerez was race number 3000 in the World Championship and one of the riders equal third on all-time podiums proved a fitting winner. Reigning Champion Marc Marquez made inroads in the points battle in second, ahead of a stunning home ride from another five-time World Champion – Jorge Lorenzo, sharing the podium with Pedrosa to keep the parity at 146 rostrum finishes apiece for the former nemeses.

The first Movistar Yamaha duel of the season saw Maverick Viñales the man to take the stunning 500th win for Yamaha after a clash of the titans at Le Mans – with the tremors from the French GP felt throughout the Championship standings as the dust settles. With both Yamahas dueling on the last lap, the number 46 dramatically slid out of contention from behind his teammate to lose the Championship lead – and join Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez on the list of those leaving Le Mans empty handed.

Italian rider, Italian bike, Italian GP... and the tricolore flew high over the podium at Mugello, as Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso took a magnificent win battling rivals on track, and illness off it, to cross the line over a second clear of Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and an impressive home podium for second Italian Danilo Petrucci.