 1 Qatar GP Circuit |
 2 Kropotkin's preseason review |
 3 Grid positions were: Lorenzo, Tozeland, Edwards - all Yamaha - while Rossi started in seventh. Pedrosa got a brilliant start from eighth on the grid and is already in front. Valentino is buried in the traffic. Crowd favourite Tony Elias is hanging right off the bike and Marco Melandri is generating some sparks. Valentino got to fifth by the end of the first lap. |
 4 By lap 3 Valentino had moved into second and started to chase after Dani Pedrosa. Casey Stoner is in fourth but moves into the lead on lap 8. Front row starters Edwards and Toseland are starting to drop back. |
 5 Valentino is front of Dani Pedrosa (see the orange wheel?) with James Toseland's Yamaha behind him. This was an interesting race because it was the first ever conducted under lights. The desert night air made the track temperature (19°) and air (18°) temperature quite cold. |
 6 On lap 8 Casey Stoner passed Rossi and moved into first position. Jorge Lorenzo, in his maiden GP, eventually repassed Rossi on lap 9 and demoted him to third. Rossi's Bridgestones were starting to fade on a bike built around Michelins. |
 7 Stoner and Lorenzo then pulled away from Valentino. On lap 14 Pedrosa also went past the fading Rossi. On the last lap another rookie, Andrea Dovizioso, passed Rossi to take fourth. Results were Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa with Rossi finishing fifth 13.3 seconds behind first place. Rossi later described this as his worst race of the season. |
8 Kropotkin's Qatar race summary |
