Losail International Circuit is set to host its second Grand Prix in two weeks, as the TISSOT Grand Prix of Doha will follow the Qatar Grand Prix, which opened the 2021 campaign. The opener was a real barnburner, and now Maverick Vinales, who won a week ago, will definitely have a target on his back. This was Vinales’ second career win at Losail, and he had to work hard to earn it, with the race taking off at lightning speed from the beginning. Those closest to him at the end were Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia and Joan Mir, and each of them will look to close the gap and pick up the win on Sunday.
Take a look at the MotoGP betting odds for the field as well as our thoughts on some of the top riders.
MotoGP News: Grand Prix of Doha Preview
| Rider | Odds |
| M. Vinales | +300 |
| F. Bagnaia | +450 |
| J. Miller | +500 |
| J. Mir | +650 |
| J. Zarco, F. Quartararo, F. Morbidelli | +700 |
| A. Rins | +800 |
| V. Rossi | +2000 |
| A. Espargaro, P. Espargaro, FIELD (any unlisted riders) | +3300 |
| M. Oliveira | +5000 |
| A. Marquez, B. Binder | +6600 |
| S. Bradl, E. Bastianini, J. Martin | +20000 |
| D. Petrucci, L. Marini | +50000 |
| I. Lecuona | +200000 |
| Savadori | +400000 |
Some of the riders who looked befuddled by Vinales’ big win included Fabio Quartararo, as he will have to figure out how Vinales picked up such an advantage. Jack Miller had the fastest time in testing but ended up in ninth place in the race — while Bagnaia, his teammate, ended up on the podium.
Enea Bastianini came out of the first race as the top rookie after cracking the top ten, and it will be interesting to see if he can go even higher in his second race on the same circuit. Jorge Martin wowed observers with an impressive start to the race, jumping ahead ten places in a matter of seconds. Can he pull that off again this week?
Aleix Espargaro rode a bike that was just about all new for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, coming in seventh, just 5.934 seconds back of Vinales. That made the best result, in terms of gap behind a winning rider, for any Aprilia rider during the MotoGP era. One reason why Espargaro was in position to fight for seventh had to do with his brother, Pol. Riding for Repsol Honda Team, the younger Espargaro had a terrific debut, just 0.056 behind Aleix. Getting that first race under his belt is an important transition.
Alex Marquez, riding for LCR Honda Castrol, and Takaaki Nakagami, riding for LCR Honda Idemitsu, will just be looking for finishes at this point (as well as championship points), as both riders crashed out in the Qatar GP.
KTM also had a tough time at Losail, as they have since they came into MotoGP. There are just some tracks that suit some machines better than others, and some tracks provide easier testing. One thing that KTM showed in 2020 was a consistent level of excellence — and in cases where the same track hosted back-to-back races, their teams did much better in the second go round. So they should get better runs out of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder this time around.
Currently, here are the top five riders in the MotoGP Championship standings:
Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) — Yamaha — 25
Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) — Ducati — 20
Francesco BAgnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) — Ducati — 16
Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) — Suzuki — 13
FAbio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) — Yamaha — 11
MotoGP Betting Odds
Love betting on the MotoGP races? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date MotoGP races
