Former World Champion Casey Stoner (Ducati) won the rain-delayed Qatar Grand Prix by speeding from the pole position to the checkered flag on a warm night in the desert east of Doha.

The win was his third in a row on the Losail International Circuit and the first under the new racing regulations that include control tires and limited practice and qualifying. None of which seemed to bother the 23-year-old Australian.

Stoner sped away at the start, built a comfortable lead in the early going, then rebuffed a mid-race attack by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). From the 11th lap to the end of the 22-lap affair, Stoner steadily built his lead to a margin of victory of 7.771 seconds. Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) came home in fourth just ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda).

Stoner had to wait a day to notch his third consecutive win. Rare torrential rains just as the MotoGP field was about to start its warm-up lap on Sunday night forced the postponement of the race to Monday night. The only time anyone could remember this ever happening to the senior class was in the 1960’s when the 500cc GP on the Isle of Man was delayed a day by “fog on the mountain.”

Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso nearly equaled his stunning premier class debut from 2008 by finishing fifth. Dovi had moved into third on the fourth lap before front end issues that affected much of the 18-rider field also slowed his drive. The problem had never arisen during practice and qualifying, so the young Italian had some on the job learning. But he managed it well and gained valuable experience. Unfortunately, on lap 14 he was dropped one spot by Colin Edwards (Yamaha), but he’d still finish as the top Honda rider.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex De Angelis made a late run at Dovi and closed to within 1.6 seconds at the stripe. The excitement in his race came on the 11th lap when he made contact with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa as the pair went side-by-side through a left-hand corner. De Angelis ran wide, slamming into Pedrosa’s left side and leg, which had recently been surgically repaired. Pedrosa slid off the left side of the saddle as his RC212V skated along the rumble strips, but somehow the gritty Spaniard managed to stay upright.

The controversial pass put De Angelis in seventh and two laps later he would steal sixth from Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki).

Teammate Toni Elias gave the San Carlo Honda Gresini squad a double top ten finish by taking ninth. But the Spaniard wanted more in his return to the team he last rode for in 2007, especially since he was racing a factory supported Honda RC212V. It hadn’t been an easy weekend for Elias, who now looks forward to better things at the following grand prix in Motegi, Japan in two weeks.

Elias was the first of three Hondas to finish in order. Behind came LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet and Pedrosa. De Puniet battled a front tire grip problem that slowed him early on and he could finish no better than tenth.

Scot Racing Team MotoGP’s Yuki Takahashi scored a point in his MotoGP debut. The former 250cc campaigner treated his first race like a master class, learning from the rest of the more experienced field. Mostly he learned about dealing with the front end and braking in what was his longest ever ride on a GP machine.

The second running of the night-time race was a success, even if the MotoGP world had to wait a day. The World Championship order is as per race order after only one race.

MotoGP Rider Quotes:

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 5th.
“I didn’t start well but I was able to overtake some riders and get into third position. During the first three laps the machine was performing really well – as it had during practice – and I tried to keep in contact with Valentino, but then I started struggling with the front. It was folding entering the corners and, later, also mid-corner, so I couldn’t turn as I would have liked. I had to slow down and compensate by turning with the rear tire. We never had this issue during practice or the pre-season tests, so we need to understand what happened and do some more work to adapt the machine to the tires. It was a very hard fight today, and I’m satisfied that we learned a lot here in practice and during the race. Now we’ll analyze the data and work hard for the next one in Japan.”.

Alex de Angelis, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th.
“I’m so happy with this result because I think we deserve it after working so hard this weekend. I didn’t get a great start but I knew my pace was okay so I just tried to stay calm, pass as many people as possible and make up positions. We knew the podium was out of reach for us here but I always felt we were capable of a top result and sixth place falls into that category. I was called up to Race Direction to put forward my version of the collision with Dani but there was no complaint against me so it wasn’t a big deal. This is just the start and even though we know this circuit suits my style of riding and my package, our aim is to be consistent and keep scoring results like this one. ”

Toni Elias, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 9th.
“Taking into account where we started from and the problems we had this weekend, this is a decent result for us and I’m satisfied. In terms of points it probably would have been better for us if the race was cancelled here because we knew it would be tough for us but the truth is that if you had offered me ninth place on Friday, I probably would have taken it! We know we have work to do and we know exactly where our problems are, so we’ll work together with Honda to try and fix them as much as possible before the next race in Japan.”

Randy De Puniet, LCR Honda: 10th.
“I am a bit disappointed because I expected a better result after my performances in the practice sessions. I made a good start and after that I thought that the race was easy for me. But suddenly I started to suffer grip problems on my front tire. It was a bit dangerous and did my best to manage the race like this. It’s strange as I did not have this feeling during the whole week end and it was like riding on a soft tire. My target was the top ten but I could get a better result in different conditions. Anyway we will analyse the data to be more competitive in Japan”.

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 11th.
“Overall I’m happy because of my progress over the weekend. I improved in every session and I’m glad to have come here and scored five points – though I’m also slightly disappointed because it could even have been ten or eleven. I got a good start and the race was going very well at the beginning. After seven or eight laps, though, I had started to get some vibration with the front wheel which became more severe as the race progressed. I started to lose grip at the front and my lap times suffered, so we’ll have to check what the issue was. I also suffered a lot physically in the race, and de Angelis gave me a big hit mid-race. The collision was avoidable I think because he could have passed me cleanly. My knee was giving me a lot of pain by the end and my left arm was pretty tired too. Still, we came away having completed the race and with a few points, which was our target, so I’m happy.”

Yuki Takahashi, Scot Racing Team MotoGP:15th.
“The best came at the end, when I had a chance to follow Marco Melandri for a long while. I studied him, and I got a lot of information about how to deal with the front tire and about braking points. Don’t forget that this is my first race in the MotoGP class. Not only that, but I never did a long run before. I’m satisfied. My target was learning the bike and how to compete against the best riders in the world. How to deal in the heat of the first laps, and strategies, and tactics. At the beginning I lost a little time, but I did not want to make any silly mistake. And at the end I was able to keep the same pace of the riders who were in the first groups. And now, let’s prepare for my home race, in 13 days, in Japan.”

Stoner Ran the Weekend in Qatar, this is what they had to say….

Casey Stoner took a dominant victory in the opening round of 2009 MotoGP World Championship and his third in consecutive years at the Grand Prix Qatar in tonight’s rescheduled race under the floodlights of Losail. With torrential rain forcing the postponement of the original contest last night, the riders returned to the track today for a 20-minute warm-up at 1830h ahead of a 2100h start. The nervous wait didn’t seem to affect the Australian, who launched from pole position to lead the entire distance, maintaining his searing pace in the second half of the race to keep the chasing Valentino Rossi at bay.

Nicky Hayden produced an equally impressive display and whilst the result was not as spectacular as Stoner’s his determination certainly was. The American suffered a heavy crash during Saturday’s qualifying session that left him nursing an extremely sore back and three stitches in his chest but he valiantly battled through to take twelfth place, almost snatching eleventh from Dani Pedrosa on the line with an exciting late charge.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) 1st

“I’m so pleased with this victory because it is fruit of the hard work done by everybody at Ducati over the winter. It has been difficult to work in such short sessions here this weekend and going into the race last night we took a gamble with a setting change that we weren’t sure about, but we got the opportunity to try it in warm-up and it felt great, so thank you to the team that worked really hard during the whole week-end. That gave me more confidence ahead of the race. We knew this circuit is demanding for fuel consumpionts and I had to adapt my style a little to keep the pace up and hold the advantage over Valentino but finally we didn’t have problems at all with it. My wrist felt 100% tonight but I still need to work on my overall fitness after the down time over the winter and I’m sure we can keep progressing.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team) 12th

“It’s been a tough weekend and we’ve had a lot of issues” obviously a 130mph high-side doesn’t help things but nothing really went smooth. In the beginning of the race I was quite slow, I didn’t get a great start but actually as the fuel load changed and I got a better feeling I got faster and faster and the last five or six laps were my fastest of the whole weekend. It would have been nice to nick Dani at the end there but I think the team have showed that even though a lot of stuff has gone against us this weekend we’re not going to give up. Hopefully the bad stuff is behind us now and Casey has shown the potential of the bike, so crazy as it sounds I’m leaving here in a really positive mood and looking forward to Motegi.

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Fiat Yamaha pair open account with double podium in Qatar

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo put in a strong opening showing for the Fiat Yamaha Team tonight, finishing second and third under the Qatar floodlights after the race was delayed 24 hours following last night’s heavy rain. Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards brought his M1 home in fourth, making it three Yamaha’s in the top four, with Casey Stoner taking the race win.

Starting from second on the grid, Rossi lost some ground at the start and was passed by Loris Capirossi and then Lorenzo. He had passed his team-mate back by the end of the first lap and on lap three he despatched Capirossi, but by that time Stoner was already some three seconds clear. The world champion set off in pursuit and after ten laps had closed the gap to less than two seconds, but the wear and tear from pushing so hard on his Bridgestone tires was beginning to tell and he wisely chose to settle for the safe option and twenty points, crossing the line 7.771 seconds adrift.

His team-mate Lorenzo, who finished second here last year in what was his first MotoGP race, rode a spirited race from the third grid spot. He slipped down to sixth at one point but found his rhythm and fought back to pass Edwards, Capirossi and eventually Dovizioso to take the final podium spot, a further eight seconds behind Rossi.

Round two of the MotoGP World Championship takes place at Motegi in Japan in just under two weeks time.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: +7.771
“So I think it’s definitely more fun to race on a Monday than test, like last year! Today the conditions of the track were quite different to before and this evening in warm-up we encountered a couple of small problems related to tires, so our strategy had to change slightly tonight. It’s a pity because I think last night we could have put up more of a fight, but anyway this is a good result to start the season, much better than last year. I knew I needed a good start in order to go with Stoner but unfortunately I didn’t get one and I lost some time fighting with Lorenzo and Capirossi and by then Stoner had already gone! The middle part of the race was great fun and I made six or seven good laps to come much closer, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue in that rhythm, it was too risky for the tires and I decided it was more important to take the 20 points. Casey was very strong today but he is always fast here and I believe that our potential is very good; I think that we can be back fighting again in Motegi. I am so glad we could race today after yesterday and I am satisfied to be leaving here having made a good start to the season – it is long!”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rd Time: +16.244
“I am so happy to be on the podium tonight, I really enjoyed some parts of the race when I made some good overtakes and felt confident enough to take some risks. The grip of the track was better tonight but my rear tire was moving from the start, so this is something we need to address and improve. Apart from the result and the points it is clear we have some work to do because our pace tonight was too far off Rossi and especially Stoner. The gap is too big! After yesterday’s crazy weather I am really happy we could race, it was very important for everyone and now we have got the season underway with a good result, my aim is to be much closer to the leaders in Motegi.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We didn’t win but we can consider this a good start to the season, certainly much better than in 2008. Now we need to work to fix one or two small problems that we have. The middle part of the race was good, we were gaining on Stoner but in the latter stages he was in a better condition to push and Valentino was right to settle for second. It’s a long championship and the points are important. We are confident that we will be able to battle with Stoner in Motegi.”

Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“We are happy with the result because we have started the season well and this is very important, especially with so many rule changes to get used to. It is clear that we have some hard work to do in order to close the gap on the leaders and that we need to improve our setting further, so this will be our target for Motegi. Well done to everyone for the effort to get the race run tonight, it was very important to have the chance to compete.”

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Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s Chris Vermeulen equalled his best-ever result at Losail in Qatar tonight by racing his Suzuki GSV-R to seventh place.

Vermeulen got a good start from the third row of the grid and was up with the leading group early on. As the race settled down he was involved in a number of battles with various riders and fought all the way to the line to score his – and Rizla Suzuki’s – first points of the 2009 MotoGP season.

Loris Capirossi had a less successful race, as he crashed out on lap eight. Starting from fifth on the grid Capirossi got off the line very well and was up into second place by the first corner – a position he held for the first two laps. As the race wore on he experienced a dramatic loss in front tire performance and eventually lost the front-end of the bike and crashed. Suzuki’s tough Italian walked away unhurt from the high-speed crash and will be fit for the next round in two week’s time.

Today’s race was held in dry and fine conditions with track and air temperatures both in the 20ºCs, stark contrast to yesterday’s torrential downpour that led to the race being postponed and rescheduled for today. Ducati’s Casey Stoner led the race from start to finish to record his third successive victory at the Qatari circuit.

Rizla Suzuki now travels to Suzuki’s home Grand Prix in Japan, which will be held at the Motegi Twin Ring Circuit on Sunday 26th April.

Chris Vermeulen:

“I made a good start and got into a good group of guys straight away and I was hoping to stay there. The track conditions were a bit different to what it had been all weekend and it was very different to the test which was how I had the bike set-up, and to be honest I really struggled for front-end feeling. Towards the end of the race the rear tire performance dropped off as well so that’s something we’ve really got to work on. It’s hard though with the lack of testing in race conditions and also on race weekend’s with the sessions being shorter and there being less of them, it makes it very difficult to put race distance on the tires and to iron out any other problems. It was not the result we wanted because we were hoping to be in the top-five. We have got quite a bit of work to do to catch up to the podium so we need to put our thinking caps on and go to Motegi and have a better performance!”

Loris Capirossi:

“I feel really sorry for the whole team, because all winter we have worked so hard and have gone quite well so this was hard to take. It was really strange today because our practice has been good, but in this evening’s warm-up I had a big problem with chatter, this hadn’t happened all weekend and then during the race it was the same. The front tire didn’t work like normal either, I had done 25 to 30 laps on the same tire with no problems and the feeling had always been good, but today after just five laps it felt like it was destroyed! This race is over now and we have to concentrate on the next one and find out why the things that happened today occurred.”

Paul Denning- Team Manager:

“Without doubt it was the right thing for MotoGP to stay on and race here at Qatar tonight, but unfortunately for Rizla Suzuki our bike worked quite differently than it had done all weekend for both riders. We suffered from a serious lack of front grip and some bad vibration which restricted both the guys. Clearly some of our competitors were far less affected by the different conditions and the Team – and Factory – will be working very hard to understand the difference in performance between tonight and the rest of the weekend. We will now go to Motegi and push 100% to perform a lot better at Suzuki’s home GP!”

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LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet finished in 10th position the night race at Qatar floodlit track. With a track temperature of 26°C the premier class riders got underway the first GP of the 2009 season at 21:00 local time after the cancellation of yesterdays race due to a rainstorm which is unusual for the desert circuit. Following on from an impressive practice session, Stoner won the opening round followed by Yamaha riders Rossi and Lorenzo.

After Saturday’s positive qualifying session (7th place), the Frenchman aboard the Honda RC212V nr. 14 started from the third row for the 22-lap event ending the first lap in 7th position but he struggled with front tire for the whole race and managed to finish in the top ten.

De Puniet – 10th
De Puniet: “I am a bit disappointed because I expected a better result after my performances in the practice sessions. I made a good start and after that I thought that the race was easy for me. But suddenly I started to suffer grip problems on my front tire. It was a bit dangerous and did my best to manage the race like this. It’s strange as I did not have this feeling during the whole week end and it was like riding on a soft tire. My target was the top ten but I could get a better result in different conditions. Anyway we will analyse the data to be more competitive in Japan”.

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Superb win for Stoner in Qatar Monday night race

As the action in the premier class of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship finally got underway, at the spectacular Losail International Circuit on Monday night, it was Casey Stoner who took the headlines, completing a hat-trick of season-opening wins at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

Following the exceptional postponement of the opening MotoGP contest of the year due to rain in the Arabian desert, Monday night witnessed the first race in the new single tire supplier era, but it was a familiar story with Stoner crossing the line first, ahead of World Champion Valentino Rossi.

A ruthless Stoner took the holeshot from pole and had built up a two second gap at the end of the first lap. The 2007 World Champion’s victory never looked in serious doubt as he controlled the race from the front, having been the fastest rider in every session over the weekend. His winning margin was more than seven seconds at the end of a brilliant performance, casting aside any doubts about his fitness after winter surgery on his left wrist.

Completing the podium behind the front two was Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha colleague Jorge Lorenzo repeating his rostrum result from his MotoGP debut in the opening race of 2008, in his first race on Bridgestone tires.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards started his seventh season in MotoGP riding solidly from sixth on the grid to finish fourth on his own Bridgestone debut, making it three Yamahas in the top four.

Also on new tires and with a new factory bike Repsol Honda’s 2009 signing Andrea Dovizioso was fifth, fading slightly in the second half of the race having run in third place for several laps.

There was a good performance from Alex de Angelis, crossing the line sixth having qualified ninth at the start of his second year with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team. Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen also made a decent start to the year with his improved GSV-R machine in seventh.

An excellent MotoGP debut from satellite Ducati rider Mika Kallio, meanwhile, saw him end up as the best placed rookie in eighth for the Pramac Racing team.

On factory machinery and returning to the Honda Gresini team this year, Toni Elías could not do better than ninth, whilst Frenchman Randy de Puniet brought the satellite LCR Honda RC212V home three seconds behind the Spaniard to complete the top ten.

Dani Pedrosa, riding with knee and wrist injuries, battled through the pain barrier to pick up some important points in eleventh spot. On his Ducati debut, Pedrosa’s former team-mate Nicky Hayden also did well to complete the race in twelfth, given the back and chest injuries he suffered in a huge highside crash in qualifying on Saturday. The brave 2006 World Champion even set his best time on the last lap.

Sete Gibernau finished 13th on his MotoGP comeback with the satellite Ducati Grupo Francisco Hernando team, unable to push into the top ten due to his ongoing shoulder injury.

Marco Melandri made his first appearance for the Hayate Racing Team and ran off track early on but battled back well to finish in the points in 14th.

Commencing his 20th Grand Prix season Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi crashed out on lap eight and was unable to rejoin the race.

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Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa put on a battling display in the Qatar Grand Prix, finishing in fifth and eleventh places in the delayed opening round of the MotoGP World Championship. Both came away feeling positive after an eventful weekend, yet also believed their finishing positions didn’t fully reflect their potential in this dramatic 22-lap race.

Making his race debut in the factory Honda team, Dovizioso didn’t get the best of starts and slipped from fourth on the grid to seventh in the first few corners. The 23-year-old Italian then unleashed a series of scorching moves in the opening laps, climbing to third place and setting off in pursuit of Valentino Rossi. His blistering progress was only subdued by a feeling of reduced grip from the front of his RC212V which forced Dovizioso to slow slightly and adjust his riding style. He came home in a creditable fifth to collect 11 points.

No one would have believed his Repsol Honda team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, was riding injured as he stormed through the field from his starting position of 14th. The tough Spaniard was up to an amazing sixth place by lap eight and, considering that he’s been unable to ride for over five weeks as he recovered from surgery, an incredible result looked possible. However, the 24-year-old began to experience some vibration from his front wheel and started slip back through the field. He wasn’t helped by Alex de Angelis who spectacularly slammed into the side of Pedrosa – who had been forced wide as Chris Vermeulen slipped by to take sixth place. At the chequered flag, a battered and bruised Pedrosa valiantly held on to eleventh place to collect five valuable points – confirming that his decision to race in Qatar was the right one.

The Repsol Honda squad now heads for their home race, the Japanese Grand Prix which takes place at the Twin Ring Motegi, in two week’s time.

Andrea Dovizioso, 5th
“I didn’t start well but I was able to overtake some riders and get into third position. During the first three laps the machine was performing really well – as it had during practice – and I tried to keep in contact with Valentino, but then I started struggling with the front. It was folding entering the corners and, later, also mid-corner, so I couldn’t turn as I would have liked. I had to slow down and compensate by turning with the rear tire. We never had this issue during practice or the pre-season tests, so we need to understand what happened and do some more work to adapt the machine to the tires. It was a very hard fight today, and I’m satisfied that we learned a lot here in practice and during the race. Now we’ll analyze the data and work hard for the next one in Japan.”.

Dani Pedrosa, 11th
“Overall I’m happy because of my progress over the weekend. I improved in every session and I’m glad to have come here and scored five points – though I’m also slightly disappointed because it could even have been ten or eleven. I got a good start and the race was going very well at the beginning. After seven or eight laps, though, I had started to get some vibration with the front wheel which became more severe as the race progressed. I started to lose grip at the front and my lap times suffered, so we’ll have to check what the issue was. I also suffered a lot physically in the race, and de Angelis gave me a big hit mid-race. The collision was avoidable I think because he could have passed me cleanly. My knee was giving me a lot of pain by the end and my left arm was pretty tired too. Still, we came away having completed the race and with a few points, which was our target, so I’m happy.”

Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager
“Both riders were fighting hard to the chequered flag and I’m very pleased with their performance this weekend. We’ve amassed a lot of data from both machines and from Andrea and Dani’s feedback, and we’ll use this to work on the areas where we need to improve our machine’s performance. Now we’re back racing again we know what we’ve got to do. The weekend has been positive overall, but fifth and 11th isn’t where we want to be, so we’ll continue to work hard and move forward.”

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It was second time lucky for the Qatari night race as the usual desert conditions prevailed for the duration of Monday’s running, leaving Casey Stoner and the Ducati Team to complete a clean sweep at the top of the time sheets in every one of the weekend’s sessions. The Australian was followed home by Valentino Rossi, whilst Jorge Lorenzo finished third to take the second podium spot for Fiat Yamaha.

As they had prepared to do before yesterday’s postponement, all riders competed on Bridgestone’s medium compound front and rear slicks. Whilst Stoner controlled the lead of the race, there were some close battles in the midfield including some fairing-bashing between Honda stable-mates Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and the recovering Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

After last night’s rain, the track conditions had changed today with the MotoGP machines running on a cleaner surface. Unlike the past three days, there was also very little wind all day to blow sand back onto the tarmac, meaning that the Stoner’s fastest race-pace lap was just six tenths of a second shy of his qualifying pole time, set using Bridgestone’s soft compound rear to give maximum grip over a short qualifying run.

Whilst the race weekend was extended by one day, no additional Bridgestone tires were allocated to the riders. Owing to an increased level of grip from the cleaner track and the slightly increased ground temperature, the medium compound slick was clearly the correct choice for today’s conditions.

Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit
“I would like to congratulate Casey Stoner and Ducati Team for their victory in what has been a very unusual race weekend at Losail. It is very rare that we have a race on Monday! We came here knowing that our tires faced a challenge as Qatar was one of our most difficult races last year, but I am happy with the level we have delivered this weekend. I am pleased that we have been able to meet the task of providing a consistent control tire and I am pleased we have completed this weekend with no problems.”

Casey Stoner, Ducati Team, Race Winner
“Everyone is on the same tires now so you don’t hear any more things about ‘his tires are better than mine’. The grip is not the best at this track and the bike was moving around a little, but maybe from my dirt-track days I feel more comfortable than maybe other riders do like this. We are all on the same tires so it is a good feeling to win the first race like this.”

COMMERCIALBANK GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

Pos.- Points- Num., Rider /Nation, Team, Motorcycle: Total time

1- 25- 27, Casey STONER / AUS, Ducati Marlboro Team, Ducati: 42′53.984
2- 20- 46, Valentino ROSSI / ITA, Fiat Yamaha Team, Yamaha: 43′01.755
3- 16- 99, Jorge LORENZO / SPA, Fiat Yamaha Team, Yamaha: 43′10.228
4- 13- 5, Colin EDWARDS / USA, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Yamaha: 43′18.394
5- 11- 4, Andrea DOVIZIOSO / ITA, Repsol Honda Team, Honda: 43′21.247
6- 10- 15, Alex DE ANGELIS / RSM, San Carlo Honda Gresini, Honda: 43′23.867
7- 9- 7, Chris VERMEULEN / AUS, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki: 43′27.611
8- 8- 36, Mika KALLIO / FIN, Pramac Racing, Ducati: 43′28.739
9- 7- 24, Toni ELIAS / SPA, San Carlo Honda Gresini, Honda: 43′33.465
10- 6- 14, Randy DE PUNIET / FRA, LCR Honda MotoGP, Honda: 43′36.268
11- 5- 3, Dani PEDROSA / SPA, Repsol Honda Team, Honda: 43′42.510
12- 4- 69, Nicky HAYDEN / USA, Ducati Marlboro Team, Ducati: 43′42.867
13- 3- 59, Sete GIBERNAU / SPA, Grupo Francisco Hernando, Ducati: 43′46.199
14- 2- 33, Marco MELANDRI / ITA, Hayate Racing Team, Kawasaki: 43′50.363
15- 1- 72, Yuki TAKAHASHI / JPN, Scot Racing Team MotoGP, Honda: 43′54.270
16- NA 52, James TOSELAND / GBR, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Yamaha: 44′08.962
17- NA 88, Niccolo CANEPA / ITA, Pramac Racing, Ducati: 44′09.012

Not classified

DNF NA 65, Loris CAPIROSSI / ITA, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, Suzuki: 13′49.501

Edwards claims brilliant fourth in floodlit Qatar opener

I guess it doesn’t matter much who your crew is when you got the goods!

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team finally ended an eventful Qatar MotoGP weekend with Colin Edwards riding to a brilliant fourth place finish in tonight’s rescheduled opening race.

The race was run nearly 24 hours late after the opening round of the 2009 world championship was postponed because of a freak desert storm last night. Tonight’s race went ahead over the scheduled 22-lap distance after Losail International Circuit staff spent the day using specialist vehicles to clear dust and sand off the surface.

Edwards produced one of the best performances of the race in which he was able to showcase his overtaking skills. His stunning surge from ninth on lap one culminated with a pass by Andrea Dovizioso for fourth on lap 14 to ensure Yamaha claimed three of the top four places.

British rider James Toseland looked well set for a top ten challenge as he shadowed Randy de Puniet and Mika Kallio in the early stages. But just as he closed in for an attack, he ran off into the gravel trap at the final corner on lap seven after a tangle with Toni Elias. He got back on track and finished just outside the points in 16th position.

Colin Edwards 4th – 13pts

“That was a good start to the season after I made a rubbish start to the race. I thought I’d got a good start but the next thing I know is everybody flying by me. I was way down and it cost me the chance to fight for the podium really. I’m not saying I could have run with Jorge (Lorenzo) because he was riding really well, but it would have been nice to give myself a shot. The track conditions were good considering the rain we had last night and I just concentrated on being smooth and not abusing the tire too much and it paid off because when I caught (Andrea) Dovizioso I could see he was having some issues. By the time I passed him for fourth, Jorge was long gone and it was going to take a massive mistake from him for me to get close to Jorge but I kept pushing. I’d like to think I could have kept the pace with Jorge if I’d got a good start, but it’s easy to say that after the race. The grip from Bridgestone was really good and I’m glad we all stayed and raced. I just want to say thanks to all my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. It has been a long and difficult weekend but we have all pulled together, stayed strong and focused and come out with a good result, so I’m looking forward to another good race in Japan next time out.

James Toseland 16th – 0pts

“It has been a difficult weekend to say the least and I know we have got a long way to catch up. This race was almost like a test for me, and like in testing, I didn’t have a lot of luck out there. I felt like I could fight for the top ten but Toni Elias came up the inside of me at the final corner as I was closing on Randy de Puniet and Mika Kallio. He touched me and I went off into the gravel and that left me out of the points unfortunately. We tried a different front-end setting for the race to try and solve some stability issues I’ve been having, and there is plenty of room for improvement. I just need time on the bike and a bit of luck to go my way. My guys have put in a lot of effort this weekend and I’m confident I can get a good result in Japan for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”

So, we had a race. CommercialBank Grand Prix of Qatar

The 2009 MotoGP season finally got under way today in Qatar. The race was a good one but was a bit like déjà vu. Stoner was dominant start to finish pulling a gap of 1.268 seconds in the first lap. He dominated this race last year and was dominant from the time they unloaded until his awesome crossed-up wheelie across the start/finish, winning the race by over 5 seconds from Rossi and Lorenzo. Despite Stoner, there was racing on the track today, just a bit further back in the pack.

At the start Casey leads into corner one from the pole, followed by Capirossi, Lorenzo and Rossi. Further back in the pack and in seemingly a non-incident, Melandri tests the Kawasaki in the gravel trap but doesn’t fall and is able to rejoin the race. Rossi takes Lorenzo on lap two and then they both go around Capirossi who quickly falls into the clutches of Dovizioso in a battle for fourth. By the end of the second lap, Stoner has pulled out another second to lead Rossi across the line by 2.844 seconds.

Colin Edwards is hanging strong in sixth holding off Chris Vermeulen and Nicky Hayden is gritting it out in fifteenth. The Doctor is flying now that he’s got clear track but you get the feeling it’s somewhat in vain. Dovizioso has come through to third and is looking really good on the Repsol machine, but Lorenzo isn’t giving up at all. At one point Dovi pulls as much as a half second ahead and then one corner later Lorenzo dips back under him to resume in third. At the same time towards the back of the pack Toseland is practicing his off-road skills as it appears that maybe his bike has expired.

With fifteen to go Capirossi loses it in a high speed low side. He jumps right up but the bike goes for a big-time tumble. Back at the front Rossi has reeled Stoner in a bit, closing the gap down to 2.036 seconds. At almost half way the running order is now Stoner, Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Edwards, Pedrosa, Vermeulen, DeAngelis, Kallio and DePuniet to round out the top ten. Also by half point Rossi has an eight plus second gap on Lorenzo. Barring any big drama, first and second seem set.

Pedrosa is having a race though. After being questionable to race at all, he has moved through the pack nicely but now has fallen into the grips of Chris Vermeulen. Vermeulen is able to sneak under him and DeAngelis comes with him, making contact with Pedrosa on his way through. Pedrosa has a pretty big moment almost coming off the bike and then almost running wide as he gathers it back up. He loses all his momentum though, and is now being hounded by Kallio who will get him two corners later.

Back at the front, the gap is moving the other way again as Stoner has pulled out another second to lead Rossi by three seconds now. Edwards is still on the move and makes a move on Dovi now to take over fourth place and they have quite a dice as the Honda looks really fast today. Speaking of fast Hondas, Pedrosa’s Honda gets paced by Elias now but on the straight Pedrosa motors right back by. Obviously Pedrosa isn’t 100% because a couple corners later Elias gets back under him and this time it looks like it will stick. Stoner’s lead is five and a half seconds now and he seems to be on cruise control as he’s hardly using the paint anymore. There are four laps to go.

Hayden, having saved something from a weekend I’m sure he would like to forget, passes Gibernau for 12th and finishes just behind his old teammate Pedrosa in twelve. The race ends with Stoner well in front of Rossi followed by Lorenzo, Edwards, Dovizioso, DeAngelis, Vermeulen, Kallio, Elias and DePuniet to round out the top ten.

We’ll post the Official results as soon as they become available.

All the rain and confusion has made the opening round of the 2009 MotoGP season dramatic, i guess. All i can say for sure at this point is that one of my all time favorite 250 rider won the 250 GP today. Congratulations Hector Barbera!

Official Results from the 125 GP Race in Qatar

Official Results from the 250 GP race in Qatar

The curtain will go up a day late for the 2009 MotoGP season after torrential downpours forced the postponement of the Qatar Grand Prix just as the MotoGP riders were about to head out for their warm-up laps. What followed was a lengthy delay, followed by a meeting among race organizers, race direction, and team managers. The resolution was that the race would be run a day later and two hours earlier; the new start time is 9:00 p.m. local time on Monday, April 13, with warm-up at 6:30 p.m. local.

The decision to cancel the race would have helped Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa recover from recent surgery on his left knee, while teammate Andrea Dovizioso was happy to know he’d be able to make his race debut with the Repsol Honda team.

“This has been a really strange situation tonight,” Pedrosa said. “With such heavy rain it would definitely have been dangerous to ride under the floodlights, so the decision to cancel the race was the right one. At first we thought the race was going to be called off completely and I can’t say that this would have been bad for me personally because my condition is not 100 per cent. But we came to Qatar to race so we’ll come back and go for the maximum result tomorrow.”

Fourth fastest qualifier Dovizioso said “For all the adrenalin that built up during practice and qualifying to be followed by the cancelled race was a real anti-climax. So I think it’s good that we race tomorrow night. There may be less grip after the rain that fell on the track tonight, but that will be the same for everybody. Also with the tires, the situation is equal for all the riders. From the team’s point of view, it will be really useful for us to get the race data, so I’m glad we’re coming back tomorrow.”

In a country where rain is rare and torrential rain is even rarer, the freak storm threw a wrench into every race on the schedule. The 125cc race was stopped by rain on the fifth of 18 scheduled laps and declared official, with results reverting to the end of lap four. The riders were awarded half points.

Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) won the race from Julian Simon (Aprilia) and Sandro Cortese (Derbi). Dutchman Jasper Iwema finished 23rd in his debut with the Racing Team Germany squad.

The 250cc race was postponed by 20 minutes and shortened by seven laps from 20 to 13. But what the race lost in length it made up for in excitement, with a thrilling two-rider battle to the end, a five way battle for third, and a lap record for Honda.

Spaniard Hector Barbera led the first lap and the last, and five in between, but his victory was never assured. His competition came first from Alex Debon (Aprilia), who led laps two and three, before he began a march to the rear. He would finish 14th.

In his place came journeyman Jules Cluzel, a French rider who’d never placed higher than tenth and who scored no points in 2008. Those facts were irrelevant as he rode an ex-Marco Simoncelli machine to the front of the field, taking the lead from Barbera on lap five as the battle for third was 11-strong and included Thai Honda PTT SAG’s Ratthapark Wilairot and Valencia CF – Honda SAG’s Hector Faubel.

The leaders made a break on the sixth lap, easing away from those clamoring behind, and taking their fight to the end. Barbera pulled out of the draft and passed Cluzel as they approached the stripe to end the ninth lap, then quickly built up a small cushion. The lead crept ever upward, though it was never more than a second. The margin of victory was .826 secs.

Scot Racing Team 250’s Raffaele de Rosa (Honda) made a steady move to the front after taking tenth on lap one. The Italian’s progress was nearly linear and he was up to fourth at the halfway point. Then he took second from Debon on lap eight and built almost a two-second gap on his pursuers. But there were late problems with his rear tire and the lead he built up soon evaporated. On the final lap he was taken by 125cc World Champion Mike di Meglio (Aprilia) and Scot Racing Team 250 teammate Hiroshi Aoyama, who admitted he waited too long to make his move.

Aoyama’s consolation came first in qualifying then the race. He qualified second to give Honda their best qualifying performance by a Honda rider in the 250cc class since his brother Shuhei was on pole at Motegi in 2007. And he also clocked the fastest lap of the race on the tenth go-around.

Thai Honda PTT SAG’s Ratthapark Wilairot was in the mix for third before slowing to eighth at the back of the battle for third.

The Valencia CF- Honda SAG team debut ended with Hector Faubel in 11th after a promising start. Faubel was third for the first two laps before falling through the pack to finish just in front of CIP Moto – GP250’s Shoya Tomizawa.

Bastien Chesaux finished one place out of the points in his first 250cc grand prix for Racing Team Germany.

Honda 250cc rider quotes:

Hiroshi Aoyama, Scot Racing Team 250cc: 4th.
“Yeah, that was a completely strange race and I’m a little bit disappointed. I was expecting to make a good race at the front, but unfortunately conditions changed. And unfortunately I had a not so good feeling from the bike and it was hard to push, especially at the beginning. But at the end, with four laps to go, I could go better and better and I tried to catch them, but it was too late to start to catch them up. But anyway we could finish the first race in fourth place, which is not so bad. I hope we can make it better in Japan.

Raffaele de Rosa, Scot Racing Team 250cc: 5th.
“My Honda was very good, but the condition of the track was bad after the rain. It was dirty and salty and the tire worsened very quickly and there was no grip. And then when there five, six laps to go, I had to slow down a little bit to try to make it to the finish line and not to lose too much time against the other riders.

FIM, IRTA, Dorna and the QMMF (Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation) have released the following statement on the MotoGP race postponement at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

Due to adverse weather conditions, the MotoGP race at the Commercial bank Grand Prix of Qatar has been postponed.

Following discussions between FIM, IRTA, Dorna and the QMMF, a proposal was put to the MotoGP teams to run the race tomorrow evening. Thanks to a huge effort from all parties concerned, and out of respect to fans of motorsport around the world, it has been decided that the race will take place on Monday 13th April, 2009.

The warm-up will run at 6.30pm local time (GMT+3), with the race scheduled to start at 9pm.

FIM Road-racing Commission President, Mr. Claude Danis stated, “For safety reasons it was not possible to race in the night due to the reflection of the lights on the track. This decision had already been taken a few years ago when we first decided to run a night race in Qatar. On behalf of the FIM I am very happy that we could postpone the race until tomorrow. It is important for the championship, especially at the first race, and I would like to thank Dorna, QMMF, IRTA and the MotoGP teams for helping reach this decision together.”

Dorna Sports CEO, Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta added, “After the arrival of a large storm we had to cancel the race as it was unsafe. The QMMF offered us the choice to run the race tomorrow, and as it was a very important decision we wanted to consult with all the team managers. The postponement was accepted by a large majority. This has been an extraordinary decision in extraordinary circumstances.”

Rider Quotes:

Valentino Rossi

“This is a real disappointment because we were fired up to race and it was so close to the start! After the rain stopped the 125 race we thought we had escaped because the track then dried but then the rain came down even harder just in time for MotoGP. It’s so unlucky because you don’t expect this in the desert. After six months without racing and after two days of practice and so much work by everyone it’s very frustrating and this is why it was important to take the decision to race tomorrow. It will be strange because I don’t think there’s ever been a Monday race! It will also be hard to wait another day, and the pressure will be more, but I am happy that we will get the chance to ride. Of course now we have to keep our fingers crossed for the weather tomorrow, but the forecast says it will be ok. The other important thing is that something is done to clean the track, because it will be very dirty after this. Maybe we should all have a race with the hire cars in the morning!”

Jorge Lorenzo

“I am happy with the decision to race tomorrow because I really want to ride. For us it’s not such a big problem to delay, and it’s better than wasting a whole weekend’s work. I am disappointed because I was ready, but we cannot help the weather and unfortunately here it’s impossible to ride in the rain. It would have been a great pity not to have a race, so now we just need to stay focused.”

Dani Pedrosa

“This has been a really strange situation tonight. With such heavy rain it would definitely have been dangerous to ride under the floodlights, so the decision to cancel the race was the right one. At first we thought the race was going to be called off completely and I can’t say that this would have been bad for me personally because my condition is not 100 per cent. But we came to Qatar to race so we’ll come back and go for the maximum result tomorrow.”.”

Andrea Dovizioso

“For all the adrenalin that built up during practice and qualifying to be followed by the cancelled race was a real anti-climax. So I think it’s good that we race tomorrow night. There may be less grip after the rain that fell on the track tonight, but that will be the same for everybody. Also with the tires, the situation is equal for all the riders. From the team’s point of view, it will be really useful for us to get the race data, so I’m glad we’re coming back tomorrow.”

It could get interesting in Qatar (or not) as it’s now raining and at last word the riders had decided against riding in the rain. Casey Stoner stated that with the lights it’s just to hard to see the track, you can’t tell what is wet and what is dry. I guess we’ll see what happens, my experience in the desert is that it doesn’t usually rain for long.

- The 125 race was called after four laps with A. Iannone (unofficially) the winner