As a viewer, I always enjoy the Qatar Grand Prix. Seeing all the fresh-looking motorbikes under the heavy floodlights creates a rather spectacular view, each machine shining and gleaming in a way it never would under direct sunlight. It’s also a circuit that can throw up a number of surprises, particularly at the infamous final corner which has lead to so many last-ditch overtakes and moments of victory or defeat. I do not envy the riders during the heat of the day, but in the cool desert evenings a twang of jealousy certainly occurs.
What joy, then, that we get two races in Qatar this year. Joy for the viewers, who get to experience twice as many races under the night sky and bright lights. Joy for the teams, who get to use their data from last week to push their bikes to even more competitive levels. Joy for the riders, who get to forget the mistakes made in race one and start fresh with a whole new race weekend. Double-headers have been one of the stranger innovations of this COVID-era of MotoGP, but there are definitely things to enjoy about them.
It’s a bigger weekend for some than others. Maverick Vinales is one rider with a lot on his plate, the Yamaha rider heading into a race weekend with a championship lead for the first time since 2017. His win last weekend was an impressive display of just how much he’s improved over winter testing, but he now needs to back up his strong start with more consistent results. There has never been any doubt in my mind that Vinales can win races, but he needs to start doing it on a week-to-week basis if he wants to challenge for the title this year.
He’s not alone, either. His other Yamaha stablemates have a lot to prove after race one, with all of them struggling towards the end of the race and definitely not getting the results expected of them. The narrative provided from the qualifying results was very much ‘Ducati vs Yamaha’, and though Vinales did finish the race on top it’s unclear if they won the battle with their Italian rivals. Both manufactures had a few riders who struggled with late race pace, but they still took the full podium between them, so it wasn’t that bad of a prediction.
If there was any one manufacturer that really overperformed on Sunday it was Suzuki. The reigning team’s champions had a tough qualifying session, as per the norm for them, but both riders managed to snake forwards and challenge at the front. Mir managed to make it all the way up to second before losing his podium place on the final straight, an error he won’t be forgetting any time soon. Nonetheless, they will be hoping for a better Saturday this week so they stand a chance of repeating their performance.
It won’t be easy for them, though. If there’s one thing that was true of all the double-headers we had last year it’s the fact that the field tightened up and the riders got closer on times. Riders who had a fine race last time out have a strong chance of having a much better time of it this weekend – the likes of Pol and Aleix Espargaro stand out as examples – while the riders who finished at the top last time will need to find extra time to give them another chance at success.
Who will bridge that gap? Again, the Espargaro brothers should both be upping their pace, but others like Miller and Morbidelli will be hoping to improve after disappointing results in race one. Morbidelli in particular has a lot to prove after an issue with his start device being locked ruled him out of even scoring a single point, a terrible start for a rider hoping to challenge for the championship this year.
KTM as a whole need to improve as well. Oliveira made it clear that the issue they faced in the opening round was to do with their tires; being forced to use the soft tires for the race was devastating for a bike that performs best on medium/hard tires. If they can find a way to use the medium tires in the cold evening conditions, or if Michelin bring a more balanced tire set for this weekend, then perhaps we can finally see what the 2021 KTM is capable of.
All told, this should be a fascinating race for a number of riders. Will Ducati and Yamaha retain their top spots? Will Suzuki and Honda bridge the gap? Will KTM finally find the pace they need in the difficult conditions of the Qatar circuit? I guess we’ll find out all the answers come race day.
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