The Frenchman had confirmed his supreme pace with fastest time in Timed Training but was narrowly edged for the holeshot through the sweeping opening turn of Qualifying. He closed down the leader several times but could not find a way past on the ultra-fast raceway and eventually settled for a secure second-placed finish and the nine world championship points which the result earns.
 
 Romain Febvre: "As usual I immediately found a good feeling with this track, and I’m happy to be here. Today started well with the fastest time in both practice sessions, and in the Qualifying race I had a good start in second position right behind Gajser. I had a chance to pass him with a good line two times but you have to be aggressive to make the pass stick…. I had a good speed, good lines and I'm starting the season with a second position so today was positive! There were several crashes today - I would say the same as every year at the opening GP; the track is rough in some places and you need to be careful with a margin of security."
 
KRT teammate Jeremy Seewer also found a clean line through turn one from his tenth-placed gate-pick to run sixth for the first three laps. A small slip on lap four cost the Swiss newcomer to the team two positions but he hit back five laps later to regain one of those placings for seventh at the chequered flag.
 
Jeremy Seewer: "Everyone is so excited at the first GP. This is a tricky track and there's a lot of tension all around, so I tried to stay calm; you can only lose today, not win. The set-up we found for the track was positive and I had a decent pace in Qualifying. I just made one small mistake in a corner where I lost two positions but I came back for seventh; but for that mistake I could have been P5 and I'm positive we can fight for top five tomorrow."
 
The Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team's youthful duo Jack Chambers and Bobby Bruce had less joy in Qualifying for the opening round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship. Both had shown good pace in Timed Training when Bruce posted tenth-fastest time and his American teammate twelfth. Chambers narrowly missed his first points of the campaign in the Qualifying race; he ran eleventh in a high-speed train for the first three laps before a slip cost him four seconds and several places. Immediately finding his rhythm again he pushed to the finish to recover to twelfth, less than three seconds shy of the final point for tenth. Bruce had a frustrating opening lap which left him trailing the entire field but the English teenager again posted good lap times as he carved his way through the thirty-two-strong field to finish eighteenth by the end of the twenty-minute-plus-two-lap race.