Not for the last nine years has the winner of the opening Grand Prix of the season gone on to win the MotoGP™ World Championship. It was back in 2014 that reigning World Champion Marc Marquez riding the Repsol Honda won the opening race of the 18 round World Championship in Qatar. In 74 years of Grand Prix racing the opening race Premier class winner has only gone on to win the World title on 35 separate occasions. Both of them also started successful World Championship campaigns by winning the opening race on different makes of machines. Four times World Champion Eddie Lawson won Grands Prix for Yamaha, Honda and Cagiva.

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