Buzzin MotoGP

Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati claimed his first victory of the season at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar on Monday after the race was rescheduled as the weather deteriorated on the Sunday evening.

Stoner dominated the race from pole position and by the end of the first lap had built a 2 second gap which by the end of the race had been increased to 7 seconds.

Valentino Rossi took the Fiat Yamaha across the line to take second place followed by his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who was racing on Bridgestone tyres for the first time since the new single supplier rule was applied.

In fourth place was Colin Edwards who had qualified in sixth position on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha and who was also making his debut on the new Bridgestone tyre.

The new Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, showed some impressive riding in the first half of the race, even running in third for a while but seemed to pace in the remaining laps, finally finishing in fifth.  Meanwhile, his team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who is still not 100% fit, finished down in eleventh place.

Pedrosa’s race nearly came to an early end when he was almost run of the track by Alex De Angelis on the San Carlo Honda Gresini, contact was made and an impressive Pedrosa somehow managed to cling onto his machine, dropping places while De Angelis finished in sixth.

James Toseland on the second Monster Yamaha, had qualified in thirteenth place on the grid and looked to be in with a top ten finish at the beginning of the race, keeping pace with LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet and Pramac Racing rider Mika Kallio until he got in a tangle with Toni Elias on lap 7 seeing him fly through the gravel trap.

After rejoining the circuit Toseland struggled to find his previous pace and finished in sixteenth while Elias on the second San Carlo Honda finished in ninth place.

The Scot Racing teams new signing Yuki Takahashi had qualified in seventeenth place on his debut after moving up from the 250cc series.  He finished in fifteenth place picking up his first point in the championship with still a lot to learn as he joins the big boy racers.

There was doubt if Nicky Hayden, on the  second Ducati Marlboro, would be fit to race after his dramatic 130mph high-side in qualifying on the Saturday.  Hayden finished in twelfth place after qualifying in sixteenth, despite suffering from a badly bruised back and stitches to his chest.

It wasn’t such a good race for the Rizla Suzuki team after Loris Capirossi suffered a high speed crash and finished the first race without any points.  Capirossi had qualified in fifth place and as the riders went into the first corner he was in second.  However, he appeared to lose grip rapidly on his front tyre before flying off the bike as the front end gave way, fortunately leaving him without serious injury.  His team-mate Chris Vermeulen managed a seventh place so collected some points for the team at least.

Doubts also surrounded the Grupo Franciso Hernando Satellite bike rider Sete Gibernau, who had suffered a problem with an old shoulder injury during winter testing.  He qualified in fifteenth place and finished in thirteenth place after admitting that he had been unsure if he would be able to complete the whole 22 lap race.

Here are the results;

1  Casey STONER  Ducati Marlboro Team
2  Valentino ROSSI  Fiat Yamaha Team    +7.771
3  Jorge LORENZO  Fiat Yamaha Team     +16.244
4  Colin EDWARDS  Monster Yamaha Tech 3     +24.410
5  Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team     +27.263
6  Alex DE ANGELIS San Carlo Honda Gresini    +29.883
7  Chris VERMEULEN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP    +33.627
8  Mika KALLIO  Pramac Racing      +34.755
9  Toni ELIAS San Carlo Honda Gresini    +39.481
10  Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP     +42.284
11  Dani PEDROSA  Repsol Honda Team     +48.526
12  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati Marlboro Team     +48.883
13  Sete GIBERNAU  Grupo Francisco Hernando   +52.215
14  Marco MELANDRI  Hayate Racing Team     +56.379
15  Yuki TAKAHASHI  Scot Racing Team MotoGP    +1′00.286
16  James TOSELAND  Monster Yamaha Tech 3     +1′14.978
17  Niccolo CANEPA  Pramac Racing     +1′15.028

Not classified
Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP