MotoGP 2008 Round 1
Losail, Qatar
March 10, 2007

First Ever Night MotoGP Race!

Text and Photos Courtesy MotoGP, Kawasaki, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing and World Superbike.  Edited by webBikeWorld.com staff.

Race Results
Is Stoner unstoppable?  Is Rossi finished?  Does Rossi regret moving to Bridgestone?

These questions and more will be answered in the 2008 MotoGP season!  In the meantime, 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner began his title defense in style with victory in the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar --the first ever MotoGP night race -- ahead of a surprising second place by MotoGP rookie Jorge Lorenzo and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.

The Ducati Marlboro rider was chasing a repeat of his debut premier class victory from last year and although he didn’t have things all his way in the early going, Stoner held off challenges from some of the favorites for the 2008 crown to win by over five seconds from Lorenzo.

Behind the Australian, Fiat Yamaha rider and reigning 250cc World Champion Lorenzo followed up on his spectacular Saturday pole with a jaw-dropping debut MotoGP race.  The Majorcan showed no fear in the face of a field packed with race-winners, joining Stoner in breaking away from the pack to take a maiden podium at his very first attempt.

Another rider to step onto the rostrum in his first MotoGP race was Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa, who for the third consecutive year finished in the top three at the opening race of the year.  The 2007 World Championship runner-up had to work for his reward, however, taking the holeshot from the third row of the grid and getting some rough treatment by the frontrunners in their attempts to break away.

JiR Team Scot rider Andrea Dovizioso joined eternal adversary Lorenzo in making a fantastic 800cc debut, taking fourth place from five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi on the final lap of the race. 

The former 250cc star picked off his fellow Italian after Rossi had dropped out of the running for third, both finishing just ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha’s front row duo of James Toseland and Colin Edwards in the former’s first Grand Prix.Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi, LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet and 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden completed the top ten, with De Puniet finishing a MotoGP race in Qatar for the first time.

Chris Vermeulen was forced to return to the pits for a tire change counting him out of the running for points, whilst the final debutant in the class Alex de Angelis, crashed out with five laps remaining.

Casey Stoner:  “The preseason didn’t really start too well for us at the end of last year.  We had a little accident and it took us a bit of time to recover.  Everything’s gone quite well since then.  The race today was just a little bit crazy I suppose; everyone was bashing fairings in the first few laps and I think we were just lucky to stay upright!"

"After that everyone seemed to calm down a bit and we were able to pull away at the front.  I really enjoyed this race tonight, it was a lot of fun.”<

Jorge Lorenzo:  “One month ago we didn’t expect this, for sure.  Pole position, second place in the race; it’s an amazing result for us.  I want to thank Yamaha for all they’ve done.  We still have a bit to go with the engine and with the tires, but I can only thank everybody involved in this race.  I also have to congratulate Stoner, he was faster than us on the day.”

Dani Pedrosa:  “It’s a big surprise for me, because seven days ago I was the last in the test.  It’s incredible to be here, but I have to dedicate this result to my team because they worked unbelievably hard during the week.  I was pushing hard, but I without them I wouldn’t be on the podium.”

Qualifying
March 8, 2008 - Jorge Lorenzo will make his MotoGP debut from pole position at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, after clocking the fastest time ever recorded for a World Championship bike at the Losail International Circuit.

The Fiat Yamaha rider took the top spot in the dying moments of the historic maiden night qualifying session with a 1’53.927 lap, becoming the first rider to break the 1’54 barrier in the process.  The 20 year-old Spaniard marked his momentous achievement with a trademark wheelie, and will be looking to plant his famous "Lorenzo’s Land" flag in the Qatar gravel tomorrow to celebrate what would be make him one of the youngest ever premier class Grand Prix race winners.

Lorenzo’s late time only just overshadowed another debutant, Tech 3 Yamaha rider and current Superbike champion James Toseland.  The Briton had a fantastic showing to confirm his superb pace in testing and practice under the floodlights of Losail, making a statement of intent 20 minutes into the session by breaking Valentino Rossi’s pole record from 2007. 

With a third of the session remaining, Toseland fired back immediately when Lorenzo took the top place for the first time, and was unlucky to miss out on a perfect result at only 0.255 slower than his rival.  Colin Edwards completed an all-Yamaha top three, continuing his renaissance as Toseland’s team-mate in the Tech 3 Yamaha outfit.  His appearance in the top three also makes it a Michelin clean sweep on an excellent day for the French tire manufacturer, with all seven of their riders in the top ten.

The fastest of the Bridgestone brigade was 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner, the fastest rider in every practice session prior to the evening shootout.  Stoner starts on the second row at Losail for the first time in Qatar, in fourth place. 

Randy de Puniet was the fastest Honda rider of the day, just ahead of factory rider Nicky Hayden as the final two participants to go round in under 1’55.

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was, in a rare occurrence for the five-time MotoGP World Champion, the lowest placing Yamaha rider, ahead of Repsol Honda’s 2007 World Championship runner-up Dani Pedrosa, 800cc newcomer Andrea Dovizioso and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st Time: 1'53.927 Laps: 22:  “Only in my dreams did I imagine being on pole at my very first MotoGP race; I can’t believe it! 

This is something great for all of Yamaha; there are three Yamaha riders on the front row and this shows how hard they have been working. 

Tonight my M1 was working very well and with the Michelin qualifying tires it was excellent, but also our race pace is very good.  Tomorrow will of course be very difficult; it’s my first MotoGP race so there is a lot to think about, but I am excited and of course we will try to do our best and see what happens!

The team and Michelin have done a great job over the winter so this is a thank you to them.  I will try to get a good start and I will have to concentrate very hard on the first lap when the tires are cold, and then we’ll see what happens.  Tomorrow is another day however and for the moment I just want to think about this and celebrate a special night for me and for Yamaha.”

►Race Practice Reports

Race Practice
The lights were switched on at 17.45 hours, local time, at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar as MotoGP's first official night test kicked off, prior to the first round of the 2008 season next week.  It all happened in preparation for the race on 9th March, also at the track, which will be the first Grand Prix ever to be run at night.

The history-making illumination, powered by nearly five and a half million watts of electricity and which represent the largest permanent sports lighting system in the world, lit the 5.4km circuit as the premier class riders started the first of two nights of testing.

The lights will force new challenges on the riders, the teams, television and even the photographers, all of whom will be at least shielded from the brutal desert heat.

Kawasaki Racing Team rider, John Hopkins, took to the track on the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR despite still recovering from a groin injury sustained at Phillip Island in January.  The 24-year-old Anglo-American managed 71 laps and a best time of 1'56.614, putting him in an impressive seventh position on the leader board, just over a second off Casey Stoner, the fastest man of the session, and a mere 0.043 seconds off sixth placed rider, Andrea Dovizioso.

Getting used to the lighting was the first hurdle and one which all the riders seemed to overcome fairly quickly.  However, as Hopkins pointed out as he tested Bridgestone tire combinations throughout the seven hours, low, night time track temperatures will make for a difficult decision on the rubber come the race.

He did, however, continue to forge ahead and recorded his fastest lap of the session right at the end: a positive sign of things to come.

Anthony West, after making great progress during the last test at Jerez earlier this month, continued to test new chassis components on his Bridgestone-shod machine and was feeling increasingly confident in the revised set up.

The 27-year-old from Queensland, Australia, had just put in his fastest time of the test when he lost the front and crashed at turn 16, the final right-hander before the long stretch down the start/finish straight. Bruised but otherwise unhurt, West climbed aboard his second bike and went back out to do some further laps.

The test ran until 01:00 hours, one hour later than scheduled, due to the official, switching-on ceremony delaying the advertised start. Tomorrow's test will begin at 17:00 hours, local time, and run until midnight.

Slippery Start for Kawasaki
March 7, 2008 - The first weekend of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship kicked off this evening, under lights. The Qatar round is taking place at night and the premier class field took to the track at 19:00 hours and then again at 22:55 hours, local time, for the first two practice sessions.

As during the IRTA test here last week, the track temperature plummeted as soon as the sun went down ahead of the first free practice session, despite the 5.4 million watts of lighting used to illuminate the track.  By the time this evening's second free practice session started the track temperature had dropped to just 14˚C (57˚ F), and many riders were commenting that rear grip had become difficult to predict.

This was certainly true for Kawasaki's John Hopkins, as he worked his way through a number of rear tire options in a bid to identify a tire that could cope with the cold conditions should they remain for Sunday's 22-lap race.  The 24-year-old Anglo-American rejected a number of rear slick options, before finding a combination of tire and suspension settings that appeared to improve both the level and the consistency of the grip.

Although disappointed not to finish higher up the timesheet on the opening day of the first round of 2008, Hopkins remains confident that tomorrow will see him move closer to tonight's leader, reigning world champion, Casey Stoner.

Anthony West, meanwhile, managed to improve his times over the course of the evening's practices and put in his best time on his final lap of the second session . It was possible for the 26-year-old Australian to have finished higher up the leaderboard but for a crash on what would have been his fastest lap of the day.

Heading into the left hand turn two, West touched the throttle to help turn the bike into the corner, at which point the rear came round on him and he went over the high side.  He banged his head in the crash but is otherwise uninjured.

Both Kawasaki riders, like many of their rivals, are hoping for higher night time temperatures for tomorrow's qualifying practice and, ultimately, Sunday's race.

John Hopkins (14th in 34 laps @ 1'57.085):  "Tonight we went out on track with the aim of finding the best tire solution and unfortunately we ran into some minor technical issues in the later session.  This meant we weren't able to put together a solid run to improve our lap time.  I'm disappointed with tonight's overall result, as I know that we are capable of so much more. We have to find a tire combination with good grip to suit these chilly conditions and although we've got our work cut out, I'm confident that we'll be much higher in the standings tomorrow."

Ant West (17th in 33 laps @ 1'57.934 ):  "The track is quite dusty tonight and we've found it quite difficult to make the tires work in the cold conditions.  In the first session the feeling from the machine wasn't great but we made some big improvements in the second practice and I started to feel quite confident.  Rear grip is the main issue, particularly on the left side of the tire as the track is predominantly right-handed.

I was trying to make one of the tires work harder and although I had a few warnings about loss of traction, I still got caught out and managed to suffer my first high side aboard the Kawasaki.  I was chasing a better lap time and crashed at turn two, which was really frustrating.  I'm ok though and I am sure we can resolve some of the issues we've had during tomorrow's sessions."

►Race Preview

Yamaha Team Report
February 29, 2008 - Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo joined the rest of the MotoGP grid in somewhat unusual conditions today, as the World Championship’s first ever night-test got underway in Qatar. 

The test is the final one of the pre-season before the first race is run by night at the same track on 9th March.

Lorenzo lost no time in getting to grips with his new circumstances, and with 5.4 million watts lighting the track he, like most other riders, found the conditions different but no more difficult than by day. 

He concentrated on developing his set-up, testing Michelin tires and just getting used to riding the M1 around a track at which his last experience was riding a 250cc machine to victory in much warmer temperatures. 

Lorenzo finished the day in an impressive second position after 77 laps, whilst his team-mate Valentino Rossi was ninth.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2nd Time: 1'56.019 Laps: 77:  "On this first night of testing in Qatar I was more curious to see how it was riding at night than anything else!  I am happy with this idea and honestly speaking I felt I immediately got used to the conditions.  Of course at the beginning it feels a bit strange but after few laps things become quite normal and your eyes get used to the new light.

The strangest feeling I had was that I felt…lonely!  Riding in the night, although the light is very strong, makes you feel alone with your bike, so you must keep the concentration very high because of course you are not alone!  The right lines do not change because of the light, only when braking do you see your shadow getting closer, and that’s why you always must be alert, in order not to get confused with the shadow of another rider!

As far as our performance is concerned, my time was very good today but I think with some more work we can be faster still.  Tomorrow, when I am more used to the new light, the track and to the cold temperatures, we will try to do even better.”

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi, who won the race here two years ago, was unfazed by the unusual conditions however and it was soon business as usual for the Italian, who finished the night’s work in ninth place.

One of the main aims of the first night’s testing for Rossi was to work with Bridgestone to find the best tires to suit the conditions, which are of course considerably cooler than during the daytime tests and races of the past four years.  He also worked on general set-up as the team try to maximize the final hours of pre-season track time as the clock ticks down towards the first race.  Rossi completed 82 laps overall and posted a best lap of 1’56.749, whilst team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was second fastest with a lap of 1'56.019.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 9th Time: 1'56.749 Laps: 82:  “There was a lot of curiosity about this night test and I have to say that I am quite satisfied.  I think they have made a great job with the lights and you can ride quite normally, as if it’s day.  The visibility is quite good so there is no danger for us; it’s really no more difficult than riding in the day.

Maybe it would be better to move this night race to a period when the temperature is a little bit higher however, because at the moment it’s very cold here!  Today we have worked a lot on the bike set-up, but we were not so fast and we are still missing some grip in acceleration.  We tested several different tires and settings, but I am still sliding a bit when I open the throttle and the front is going a bit wide.

We know that this track doesn’t have the best grip, but other riders are going faster, so we must do better.  We have a couple of ideas for tomorrow and I am sure we will be able to improve.”

Test Times
February 29, 2008
Losail, Qatar

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'55.330
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'56.019
3. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'56.062
4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'56.121
5. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'56.251
6. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'56.571
7. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'56.614
8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'56.621
9. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'56.749
10. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'56.762
11. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'57.007
12. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'57.010
13. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.223
14. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'57.522
15. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'57.551
16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'57.593
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'57.644
18. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'57.787

Losail: Lap Record
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1'56.528

Losail: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2007, 1'55.002

Night Practice Day 2: March 1, 2008

James Toseland 2nd 1.54.592 – 52 laps:  “I know this track pretty well so it didn’t take too long to get into the groove of the place even on this bike.  But to do the time I did and finish second is pretty amazing.  I don’t think I did a 58 on my superbike, so to think I’m four seconds faster than a superpole lap is incredible.  And I’m half-a-second under Valentino’s pole and that is really encouraging.  It just shows how much my confidence has grown with the Michelin qualifying tire because you really have to trust how to get the best out of the extra grip.

I knew it was a quick lap but it was a little bit faster than I expected.  It was just great to see all those great names underneath mine.  It would have been nice to finish fastest but I’m still happy.  I wanted to come to MotoGP and be competitive and I’m showing I can.  Now I can’t wait for the first race. 

Luckily for me the experience of the Tech 3 team, and Michelin and Yamaha working so hard, it is all coming together very quickly.  It is only because of the experience of the people around me that performances like this have come so quickly.  My guys have brought me to this level much quicker than I expected, and hopefully we can convert the good testing performances into the season.”

Colin Edwards 4th – 1.55.464 – 50 laps:  “Today we mainly tested tires to try and find a good race tire and give Michelin some good information.  I found a race tire I really liked.  Yesterday in my long run my fastest lap was a 57.3, which isn’t going to be fast enough. 

With the tires I found today I did an eight-lap run and on that last lap I did a 56.4.  And that was with 22 laps on the rear and 26 laps on the front.  I don’t know if a 56.4 on the 22nd lap is good enough to win the race but I’m sure Michelin will bring us something even better for next weekend. 

I know James liked a new Michelin front and I’d tried it before him and I fell in love with it.  We’re not talking five per cent better but it felt 25 per cent better.  It works so well in the cold temperatures so Michelin has been working really hard. 

To come here and find a front tire that I’m that happy with and James is also happy with shows we are definitely moving in the right direction.  This place you generally always have an issue with front tire grip because it is such a hard track on the front.  But now we don’t have any issues and that’s credit to Michelin.  I’m excited for the first race.  The Tech 3 team, Yamaha and Michelin have been working really hard and as whole team we have done a great job this winter.”