Proving he's not afraid of the dark, Casey Stoner began the defense of his world title with a convincing win at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, the first-ever nighttime MotoGP. Carved out of the desert and lit with NASCAR-style super-speedway lights, the race held several surprises.
First, it took the rapid Mr. Stoner and his Ducati more than half the race to assume the lead. Early on, the race was led by Valentino Rossi, riding on Bridgestone tires after a disappointing 2007 on Michelins. Rossi, though, would fade back to fifth, afterward confessing confusion as to why he didn't do better on the new rubber. Winner Stoner was Bridgestone-shod.
Another surprise was Jorge Lorenzo—Rossi's teammate on the Fiat Yamaha team but running Michelins—who finished second in his debut MotoGP ride. A two-time 250 champ, he led the race then kept Stoner close for a while after the Aussie passed, but at the checkers was 5.3 seconds adrift.
"That was a fantastic race and I really enjoyed it—it was like being back in 125s!" said Stoner afterward. "The first few laps were really hectic, there were guys bashing fairings and I just tried to stay out of the way. When I got my chance to get through I took it, and from there I just focused on setting my pace. Jorge rode brilliantly. It wasn't an easy race by any means, especially at the start; over the first few laps, I was struggling a bit for grip but then the tires got up to temperature and improved. We knew we had a pretty good package for the race but obviously we couldn't be sure that things would go as well as that."
MotoGP rookie (but 2007 World Superbike champion) James Toseland was also impressive first time out on his Tech 3 Yamaha (on Michelins), finishing just behind Rossi, despite running a conventional valve-spring motor instead of the A-team's pneumatic setups.