Andrea Dovizioso once again beat Marc Marquez in a last-lap showdown, fighting off the reigning world champion to win the Grand Prix of Qatar at Losail International Circuit.

THE new MotoGP season began with another last-lap thriller, Andrea Dovizioso just holding off Marc Marquez to win the Grand Prix of Qatar.

The Ducati rider edged Honda’s reigning world champion to the line by a mere 0.027 of a second, extending his record in last-lap showdowns over the Spaniard to 3-0 in the past 12 months.

Dovizioso came in first place after completing the 22 laps in 42 minutes 34.654 seconds. It is the Italian's first victory in Qatar after failing to win it the past three years, coming second on all three occasions.

"It was a perfect race, perfect weekend," said Dovizioso.

Dovizioso had started eighth but seized the lead from Frenchman Johann Zarco, who had set the pace from pole position, with five laps to go and pulled away with Marquez in close pursuit.

Meanwhile, The Doctor aka Valentino Rossi started the Qatar GP in 8th place but was quick to rise in ranks over the race. The Italian rider was running fourth behind Zarco on Lap 18, when he passed the latter to take the third spot. However, Rossi made for distant third as his pace was no match for the top two contenders in the race.