Predictably it was Dani Pedrosa who shot into the lead from the start of the race, making the early running before being passed by fellow countryman Lorenzo. A tasty battle between the pair ensued which drew in Stoner and the three riders jostled for supremacy in the first half of this Grand Prix.

Around the midway point Stoner gradually pulled out a lead on his rivals as he sensed a possible victory with Pedrosa struggling to maintain the pace  despite battling bravely with Lorenzo for second position.

In a race where the first six riders were always in with a shout for the podium places, the third Honda factory rider, Dovizioso was in another brilliant battle with Marco Simoncelli throughout the race for fourth position.

Meanwhile Lorenzo’s new team mate at Yamaha, Ben Spies was caught up in the pack following an early exit from Randy de Puniet who high sided his bike, and found himself battling against Rossi on the Ducati for sixth place.

Having lined himself up for a couple of moves on the multiple world champion to no avail, Spies eventually launched past Rossi to claim the place for himself, with a spectacular overtake.

It was fantastic to get the season up and running and the signs are that we should be in for yet another season of exciting motorctycle racing. The Honda’s will take some beating but Lorenzo has already proved that the task is not impossible.

Other tracks will favour different manufacturers, but right now Stoner has thrown down the gauntlet to his rivals and it is down to them to respond.

Qatar MotoGP result:

1 C Stoner (Aus) Honda 42:38.569
2 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha @ 3.440
3 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda @ 5.051
4 A Dovizioso (It) Honda @ 5.942
5 M Simoncelli (It) Ducati @ 7.358
6 B Spies (US) Yamaha @ 10.468
7 V Rossi (It) Ducati @ 16.431
8 C Edwards (US) Yamaha @ 26.293
9 N Hayden (US) Ducati @ 27.416
10 H Aoyama (Jpn) Honda @ 28.920
11 C Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha @ 34.539
12 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati @ 34.829
13 K Abraham (Cz) Ducati @ 37.957

Germany’s Bradl was the runaway winner in the 600cc Moto2 class, leaving Iannone and Luthi fighting each other for the runners up spot throughout the race. Iannone eventually grabbed second place, crossing the line less than a second ahead of Luthi and over 4 seconds behind Bradl.

Bradley Smith was best of the Brit’s, earning himself a ninth place finish on his first outing in the class, while Scott Redding finished the day in 31st place.

Moto2 race result:

1 S Bradl (Ger) Kalex 40:38.549
2 A Iannone (Ita) Suter @ 4.330
3 T Luthi (Swi) Suter@ 5.137
Other riders:
9 B Smith (GB) Tech3 @ 18.910
31 S Redding (GB) Marc VDS @ 1:23.743

125cc race result:

1 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia 38:28.687
2 S Cortese (Ger) Aprilia @ 7.710
3 S Gadea (Sp) Aprilia @ 9.147

Can Valentino Rossi tame the Ducati as he did with Yamaha back in 2004 and be in with a chance of claiming his eighth MotoGP title? There are plenty of championship contenders, including World Champions past and present who will be trying their best to prevent that happening, all with a fantastic opportunity of their own to claim this years title.

If testing is anything to go by, the Honda appears to be the machine on the pace, boding well for Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, but expect the gap to close when the racing actually gets underway.

Yamaha remains the bike to beat and with Ben Spies joining current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, only a fool would write them off this season.

There are eight British riders involved across the three classes in 2011, Cal Crutchlow makes the step up from World Superbike to mix it with the big boys aboard the Yamaha of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team.

In the Moto2 line up, fans will be expecting a bit more this season from Scott Redding who started to stamp his authority on the class towards the end of last season, he is joined in Moto2 by the nearly man of 125cc, Bradley Smith and Scottish rider Kev Coghlan.

In the 125c Championship, three-time British Superbike champion Niall Mackenzie’s son Taylor will join Danny Webb, Danny Kent and Harry Stafford.

As always British Eurosport will be providing full coverage of the event, starting on Thursday with the practise sessions from all three classes.

Enjoy hearing Toby Moody and Julian Ryder get over excited as the season kicks off  at the following times:

Thursday 17 March
1650-1750 LIVE MotoGP practice on British Eurosport 2
1750-1850 LIVE 125cc practice on British Eurosport 2
1850-1935 LIVE Moto2 practice on British Eurosport 2

Friday 18 March
1555-1655 LIVE 125cc practice on British Eurosport 2
1655-1755 LIVE Moto2 practice on British Eurosport 2
1755-1845 LIVE MotoGP practice on British Eurosport 2

Saturday 19 March
1455-1555 LIVE 125cc qualifying on British Eurosport 2
1555-1655 LIVE Moto2 qualifying on British Eurosport 2
1655-1800 LIVE MotoGP qualifying on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 20 March
1545-1715 LIVE 125cc race on British Eurosport 2
1715-1825 LIVE Moto2 race on British Eurosport 2
1825-1925 Classic Race: Welkom GP (2004) on British Eurosport 2
2000-2130 MotoGP race on British Eurosport 2

Shoya Tomizawa R.I.P.

The MotoGP riders and teams were in mourning today following the Moto2 race at Misano yesterday resulted in the death of the young Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa.

The 19-year-old fell on lap 12 of the race while in fourth place and was hit by Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding who were unable to avoid the crashed rider.

The official statement from Dorna read;

“On Sunday 5th September during the Moto2 race at the Misano World Circuit, rider Shoya Tomizawa aged 19 suffered a serious crash and subsequent cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma.

“Given the seriousness of his condition – especially for the thoracic and abdominal trauma – Tomizawa was immediately treated at the Misano World Circuit medical centre and put under artificial respiration.

“The rider was taken by ambulance to the Riccione hospital accompanied by two doctors – helicopter was not used in order to allow for the proper respiratory support to be administered. Despite various attempts to resuscitate him Shoya sadly succumbed to his injuries at 14.20.

“Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Shoya’s family and friends at this tragic loss.”

The Honda rider made history this year for being the first Moto2 Grand Prix winner at the Qatar followed by a pole position and podium for the following round.

Alex de Angelis managed to walk away from the carnage while Scott Redding received ten stitches to a laceration on is back.

R.I.P. Shoya Tomizawa

The first race of the MotoGP season got underway last night with Valentino Rossi doing what he does best, taking the chequered flag. The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar got underway with Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda taking the lead as the lights went out, from seventh on the grid. Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati slipped back to fourth place after starting in pole position but was in the lead by the fourth lap after picking off his Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. Rossi was soon chasing down Stoner but the Ducati rider had managed to make a gap of two-seconds by the time the Italian had made his move on Pedrosa. However, Stoner lost the front end of his Ducati going into turn 4 and was out of the race leaving Rossi at the front of the pack. Hayden stuck with Rossi after an impressive ride from ninth on the grid as the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso replaced his team-mate Pedrosa at the front. Dovizioso got past Hayden before challenging Rossi for the lead, briefly making the pass stick on lap 16 before Rossi snatched it back. Jorge Lorenzo was then on the move as Rossi created a gap at the front, first picking off third place man Hayden before muscling his way through on Dovizioso two laps later. Hayden once again fought his way past Dovizioso but not for long as the Honda rider retook the lead on the final run down to the line for third place. Ben Spies came in to finish in fifth place on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 followed by the LCR Honda of Randy de Puniet in sixth and Pedrosa in seventh. The second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 of Colin Edwards finished in eighth place ahead of Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki, riding in his 300 grand prix finished in ninth followed by Hiroshi Aoyama in tenth for the Interwetten Honda team. The Pramac Racing riders Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaro, both failed to finish the race after crashes along with rookie rider Alvaro Bautista, who slid off track on the final lap of the race. Here are the results;

Moto2 The first ever replacement series for the 250cc series, Moto2 took place with a surprising victory for newcomer Shoya Tomizawa. Every machine on the grid follows the new rules of using Honda-built 600cc four-stroke engines and all are fitted with Dunlop tyres, with the race coming down to riding skills and nerve. As Toni Elias took the lead in the early stages of the race, his back wheel was clipped by his team-mate Alex deAngelis , causing de Angelis and Stefan Bradl out of contention. Tomizawa had moved to the front of the pack as second place man Elias, was moved back to third when Jules Cluzel made his move with 5 laps left to run. Tomizawa took his first ever podium step for the Technomag Seuter team ahead of Alex Debon on the Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo bike in second and Jules Cluzel for the Forward Racing team in third. Elias finished the race in fourth place followed by Roberto Rolfo in fifth, Mattai Pasini in sixth, Thomas Lüthi in seventh, Simone Corsi in eighth, Gabor Talmacsi in ninth and Sergio Gadea completing the top ten riders. Here are the results;

125CC Nico Terol claimed the top step of the podium in the first 125cc race of the MotoGP season for the BancajaAspar team last night. It was Efrén Vázquez who led as the race got underway but the lead spot was soon swapped as Marc Márquez, Terol and Pol Espargaro all took a turn at the front. Terol was however the man of the day followed by Vázquez for second place and Márquez in third. Espargaro finished in fourth place ahead of Sandro Cortese, Randy Krummenacher, Esteve Rabat, Bradley Smith, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Alexis Masbou rounding up the top ten. Here are the results;

Dani Pedrosa 2009

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took the victory at the final round of the 2009 season at the Valencia MotoGP followed by the two Fiat Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

125cc

There was a fantastic battle between the two Bancaja Aspar team-mates Julián Simón and Bradley Smith at the Valencia circuit yesterday with the 2009 Champion taking the win.

The two riders fought up until the last lap to claim the chequered flag with Simón just taking the lead by 0.220 seconds ahead of Smith followed by Derbi Racing team rider Pol Espargaró in third.

It looked as though Smith was in trouble at the start of his race after his bike appeared to stall on the warm-up lap but he managed to get it going in time for the start.

As the two swapped places several times throughout the race, it was Smith who made a mistake with only 4 laps of the race remaining.  As the British rider ran wide it was the advantage Simón needed as he darted into first place but with Smith still challenging until they crossed the line.

Marc Marquez crashed-out on the final lap on the Red Bull KTM while challenging for fourth place with Joan Olive on the Derbi Racing team, seeing him finish in seventeenth place.

Earlier in the race Scott Redding and Esteve Rabat, the Blusens Aprilia team riders, collided at the final turn of the lap and were both out of contention.

Danny Webb withdrew from the race after it was discovered that he had broken bones in both of his feet after his collision at the Sepang round of the championship, which were made worse after crashing during the Valencia qualifying session.  It has also been announced that the 18-year-old rider has now signed to race for the Spanish-based Jack & Jones Team for the 2010 season in the 125cc series for the next two-years.

Here are the results;

250CC

Hiroshi Aoyama yesterday became the 2009 250cc World Champion despite finishing the race in seventh position as Héctor Barberá took the chequered flag.

Barberá was joined on the podium by Spain’s Álvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine and Raffaele de Rosa for the Scot Racing team in third.

Aoyama was moved back to eleventh place on lap 10 of the race, taking a trip through the gravel after being squeezed out by the leading pack under braking, while rival Marco Simoncelli was leading the race.  Just a few laps later Aoyama moved up to tenth place and then was gifted ninth when Mike de Meglio crashed out from fifth place with only seven laps to go.

On lap 21, Simoncelli crashed out from the lead as he lost the front of his machine at turn 2 and slid off the track and was out of the race, handing the championship to the Japanese rider and the second place in the championship standings to Barbera.

Alex Debon on the Blusens machine was unable to take part in the race despite qualifying in pole position on Saturday.  The Spanish rider had already secured his grid start and set the fastest lap of the session when he lost the back end of his bike going into turn1.  He was diagnosed with a suspected broken rib at the track-side Clinica Mobile and it was decided that he was in too much pain to take part in Sundays race.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa took his second win of the season at his home track at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit of Valencia yesterday, after dominating the race.

Casey Stoner the Ducati Marlboro rider, had qualified on pole position but high-sided off of his machine during the warm-up lap and took no further part in the race.  It appeared to be a common problem of tyre temperatures which saw him thrown from his machine after a dramatic season for the 24-year-old, which also saw him lose his chance of third place in the championship standings.

Lorenzo had moved his Yamaha past his team-mate Rossi by the end of lap 1 to take third position before passing the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Toni Elias on lap 3 for second place.  With his team-mate on his tail, Lorenzo was almost thrown off his machine on the following lap giving Rossi the advantage he needed to get ahead of the Spaniard.

Colin Edwards was helped in his challenge to take fifth in the championship standings by World Superbike Champion Ben Spies, who on his wild-card ride managed to get past the Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso, allowing Edwards to finish in fourth.

Here are the results;

Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner won a very wet Sepang MotoGP race today for the Marlboro Ducati team while Valentino Rossi became the World Champion for the ninth time after finishing in third place.

125CC

The 2009 125CC World Champion Julian Simon took the victory today at the Malaysian  Grand Prix after an exciting battle with Britain’s Bradley Smith.

Simon moved into the lead on the second lap of the race and became to create a gap by lap 5 followed by his team-mate Smith. The two Bancaja Aspar riders were followed by Pol Espargaro but had created an advantage of 4-seconds by the half-way mark of the race.

Bradley Smith crashed out during the qualifying session on Saturday and suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot but soldiered on to take second at the Sepang circuit.  He managed to pass Simon on lap 13 but lost the lead when Smith made a mistake with only three laps of the race remaining.

Danny Webb on the Degraaf machine crashed out at the first hairpin with a highside, taking out the Viessmann Kiefer rider Stefan Bradl.  Marc Marquez suffered a mechanical problem on the Red Bull KTM forcing him to retire from the race while Efren Vazquez, Jonas Folgar and  Simone Corsi also crashed out during the race.

Here are the results;

250CC

Hiroshi Aoyama took the chequered flag for the 250cc MotoGP race after a fantastic battle with Marco Simoncelli and now leads the championship by 21 points.

Jules Cluzel led at the beginning of the race while Simoncelli fought his way through the front runners from eighth on the grid before crashing out on lap 10.

Simoncelli forced the Japanese rider off-line on lap 8 as he cut across the circuit in front of him pushing him onto the kerb.  Aoyama momentarily lost his second place to Cluzel but had regained the position before the end of the lap before attempting the same pass again on lap 11.  The two riders swapped positions again before Aoyama finally made the move stick on lap 13.

Aoyama had built up a one-second lead with five laps of the race remaining and finished the race with a 6.397 advantage as he crossed the finish line.

Simoncelli’s second place was threatened as they headed for the chequered flag by Hector Barbera, the two riders crossed the line side by side, ending with a photo finish which was given to Barbera who had set a faster lap earlier in the race, leaving Simoncelli to take the third step of the podium.

Mike di Meglio low-sided off his machine on lap 5 with Alvaro Bautista also losing his bike on the following lap.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

The Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner took the victory at the Sepang circuit after dominating a rain-soaked race ahead of the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa and Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi in third.  Rossi claimed the 2009 World Championship title for the ninth time despite only finishing the race in third position.

As the rain began to pour 25-minutes before the race was due to begin at the Malaysian track it caused a delayed start. Jorge Lorenzo was forced to start from the back of the grid after he failed to arrive on the grid on time after his Fiat Yamaha refused to start in the pit garage forcing the team to prepare his spare bike.

The race got underway despite the rain still falling with Pedrosa gaining the advantage of Rossi into turn one forcing the Italian to fall back to the middle of the riders.

Stoner passed Pedrosa to take the lead before the end of the opening lap with the second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso sitting in third and within 4 laps Stoner had created a gap of six-seconds.

Rossi had moved into eighth place behind Lorenzo before the Spaniard passed Loris Capirossi followed by his team-mate Rossi, but Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro proved a much harder rider to pass, taking Lorenzo five attempts before he finally made the move stick.

On lap 8, Rossi managed to get past his team-mate and by the halfway mark the track and started to show dry lines, as Rossi pulled away from Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on lap 14 allowing Rossi to claim the final step of the podium, and a position higher than he needed to claim the championship title.   Randy de Puniet suffered a huge high-side and fortunately walked away without injury.

Rossi celebrated his win with a special helmet and t-shirt stating ‘old hens make the best broth’ and including the number 9 and was also presented with a live hen donning it’s own celebration t-shirt by his fan club.

The final round of  2009 takes place at the Valencia circuit on November 6-8, with Stoner looking to take third in the championship behind Pedrosa.

Here are the results;

Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner took the chequered flag at his home circuit of the Australian Grand Prix while Jorge Lorenzo crashed-out on the first lap.

125CC

Julián Simon was crowned the 2009 champion on Sunday for the Bancaja Aspar team after winning the 125cc race on the final lap at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.

Aprilia rider Simon was in eighth place at the end of the first lap while Cameron Beaubier on the Red Bull KTM, crashed out.  The front runners made-up of Bradley Smith, Simon, Sandro Cortese, Pol Espargaro, Simone Corsi and Nico Terol, were fighting each other for the podium places, but with four laps of the race remaining the Aspar team riders began to created a gap.

Simon needed to finish the race in front of both Smith and Terol to claim the title which he did on the very last lap at the MG corner.  The two Bancaja Aspar riders had swapped the front position during the race but Smith was forced wide on the final lap as Simon squeezed through up the inside to take the win.

British rider Bradley Smith took the second step of the podium with Sandro Cortese in third for the Ajo Interwetten team.  In fourth place was Derbi rider Pol Espargaro followed by Simone Corsi for Fontana Racing after an earlier coming together with Espargaro nearly saw the pair of them out of the race.

Jack & Jones team rider Nicolas Terol took sixth place ahead of Efren Vazquez on the second Derbi in seventh and Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta team I.S.P.A. machine.  Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM took ninth position followed by Sergio Gadea for the Bancaja Aspar team to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

250CC

Marco Simoncelli took his sixth victory of the season in the 250cc series of the MotoGP after taking to the front early on in the race for the Metis Gilera team.

The race was red-flagged after Roberto Locatelli on his Metis Gilera crashed-out heavily on lap 18 at MG corner and was left sprawled across the track, leaving no option but to stop the race.  The results were decided on the standings at the end of the previous lap.  Locatelli was taken to the Clinica Mobile where it is believed he has received no serious injuries but is very badly bruised.

Pepe World team rider Hector Barbera claimed the second position followed by Raffaele de Rosa on the Scot Racing team bike in third.  Alvaro Bautista had been running in second place on the Mapfre Aspar machine but an early crash saw the Spanish rider rejoin the circuit and work his way back up the grid to tenth but he is now out of the championship contention.

Jules Cluzel finished in fourth place for the Matteoni Racing team despite crashing out on the same lap as Locatelli ahead of Mike di Meglio in fifth on the second Mapfre Aspar bike and Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing machine in sixth.

Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama finished in seventh place on the Scot Racing bike followed by Honda SAG rider Hector Faubel in eighth, Rattahpark Wilairot in ninth on the Thai Honda PTT SAG bike and Bautista in tenth.  Aoyama’s lead has now been reduced to just 12 points from Simoncelli.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner took the victory at his home circuit for the third consecutive year at Phillip Island ahead of Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi.

It was Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda that took the lead at the start of the race but was unable to hold-off pole sitter Stoner for long, and once past he dominated the Australian Grand Prix as he stayed ahead of a tailing Rossi.

Spanish rider and team-mate of Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, crashed out on lap 1 of the race after running into the back of Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati.  While Hayden ran wide and off track he was able to return to the race and finished in fifteenth but Lorenzo was out as he cartwheeled through the gravel.

Pedrosa finished the race in third place for the Repsol Honda team, over 20-seconds behind Stoner followed by Honda rider Alex de Angelis in fourth.  Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards took fifth place ahead of second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso in sixth.  In seventh place was Marco Melandri for the Hayate team followed by Randy de Puniet in eighth, Mika Kallio on the Pramac Racing bike in ninth and Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini in tenth.

The Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi was demoted to twelfth place after being moved to the back of the grid due to an engine change.

Here are the results;

Jorge Lorenzo - Assen TT 2009

Jorge Lorenzo took the victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix of Estoril yesterday for the Fiat Yamaha team followed in second place by the returning Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda in third.

The Spanish rider has now slashed his team-mates lead from 30 to just 18 points after claiming his fourth win of the season.

It was Pedrosa that took to the front of the pack as the race got underway but by the end of lap 1, Lorenzo took the number one slot and stayed there until the end of the race to take the chequered flag.

Stoner had moved back to fifth spot as the riders went into turn one but was soon past the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards, before chasing down Rossi and finally slotting into third place.  On the following lap, the Marlboro Ducati rider made his move on his fellow Spaniard Pedrosa, and was into second place behind Lorenzo.

By mid-race point, Lorenzo had managed to build-up a lead of 2.3 seconds over the Australian, followed by Pedrosa and Rossi an unbelievable 7.7 seconds behind his team-mate.

Rossi finally took his Fiat Yamaha across the line in fourth place, 23.428 seconds after Lorenzo having suffered with  no grip on his rear wheel.  Rossi had been off the pace all weekend with his Yamaha and thinks the problem may also have been to do with the set-up of his machine.

Colin Edwards finished in fifth with Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini followed in sixth as he battled the challenging Andrea Dovizioso on the second Repsol Honda.  Nicky Hayden took eighth on the second Ducati Marlboro bike followed by James Toseland on the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 and Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki in tenth.

The Pramac Ducati rider Mika Kallio, who was on his return to the series, crashed out early in the race at the long final turn.  Loris Capirossi suffered engine problems on his Rizla Suzuki and was forced to retire from the race along with Alex de Angelis on the second San Carlo Honda Gresini who also suffered a mechanical problem.

Lorenzo celebrated his race with a mock moonwalk as he placed his flag in the Estoril gravel pit.  The Fiat Yamaha team were sporting a special silver/white livery on their machines to promote the Fiat Punto this weekend and Lorenzo had a specially designed crash helmet in the style of an astronaut.

Here are the results;